Love With A Stranger
by makesmyheadspin
Summary: NOT SAFE FOR WORK! Sookie's had a bad week and decides a night of no strings attached sex is in order. Enter a man she only knows as Viking to give her the relief she needs. Mostly porn, dirty words, explicit content & a little kink Now w/a little plot.
1. Love With a Stranger

**I got the idea for this piece about a year ago after hearing "Love With a Stranger" by Marie Digby. I actually listened to this while I was writing "I Am a Wicked Child," but I wanted to put it into a one shot of its own. The words just weren't coming to me. So the idea has been sitting in the back of my mind for almost a year, just waiting to be written. FINALLY! Inspiration has struck. I got the Lubadub stamp of approval, as well as a good yelling at in gchat afterward for not warning her adequately enough.**

**So, just in case the summary wasn't thorough enough for you, this is _not safe for work_. If you are in an office environment, now would be a great time to turn back because this is total porn with very limited plot. There are lots of dirty words and explicit sexual content with some kink thrown in for good measure. Don't say you weren't warned…**

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><p><span>Love With a Stranger<span>

He snored. He was actually pretty cute. I knew He was sexy but I wasn't paying attention to the cute factor when I picked Him. I was looking for something I wouldn't have the guts to go after in my regular life, and He definitely foot the bill. I didn't even know His name but that was the whole point. It was sort of a shame I hadn't met Him under other circumstances because if I had, I got the impression He might have been good boyfriend material.

But I didn't need a boyfriend. In fact, a boyfriend was the last thing I needed. I was trying to get over a boyfriend, which was part of the reason I picked Him in the first place. He was the exact opposite of the boyfriend I was trying to forget. Blond, tall, bright blue eyes and definitely a generous lover. I figured referring to Him as "Huge Cock" was crass, even after what I'd just done, so I would simply call Him Viking, since that was what He looked like to me.

I carefully rolled out of bed and began to search for my clothes. They were scattered around the room and one piece at a time, I started to get dressed. The only thing I left behind were the panties He'd torn off of me a few hours before. I left them on my pillow. Whether or not He chose to keep them would be up to Him to decide. It wouldn't matter to me either way. I zipped myself into my little black dress and slipped on the five inch heels (when did I even take them off?) I hardly ever wore because they were the very definition of 'fuck me shoes,' and hardly office appropriate.

Between my breakup earlier in the week, the stress at work and the regular family drama I dealt with from one day to the next, drastic measures had been called for. I was stressed out and this time a pedicure and a glass of wine weren't going to cut it like they usually did. What I needed was a release for all my frustration. I needed something physical. I needed someone to push me past my comfort zones, take what they wanted and let me unleash on them all at once.

Viking was perfect for such activity. He had tried to give me His name, but I didn't want that. I didn't want to know anything about Him, other than whether or not He could get me off. And He did. Many times. I had no doubt I would be sore when I woke up in the morning but it would be worth it. Already, I felt lighter and less weighed down by all the nonsense in my life. I felt used but in a good way.

It wasn't my usual style to pick a stranger, go back to His hotel room with Him and fuck Him senseless but sometimes a girl has to do what a girl has to do. I would make an appointment with my doctor in the morning just to make sure the birth control did its job. He didn't look like He was carrying anything, but neither did my ex and it turned out He had a thing for banging hookers on business trips. Bastard.

I paused at the door of the hotel room. The only light in the room was the little bit of moonlight from the drapes that hadn't been closed all the way. We were so high up in the building I wasn't worried about someone seeing us from the street. Hell, if they had, that probably would have been an even bigger turn on. Not that Viking didn't ring my bell just fine all on His own.

I felt the urge to go back to the bed and kiss Him goodbye but I didn't want to risk waking Him and breaking the spell. It was perfect just as it was. _No regrets_, I told myself and then walked out of the hotel room and Viking's life forever.

_Six hours earlier…_

I walked into the hotel bar dressed to kill and on the prowl. The shoes I was wearing were pinching my feet but I didn't plan on wearing them for long. I walked up to the bar and ordered myself a martini. I didn't want to get drunk but I figured it would look strange if I sat in the bar with nothing in my hands but a beaded clutch. I tried to look inconspicuous as I scanned the bar to see what was available.

I assumed it was mostly business men meeting for drinks, or unwinding after a long day of meetings or conferences. I was near the convention center, so it was entirely possible some of them were there as well. I parked myself at the empty end of the bar and stirred my martini with the olive. I sipped slowly while taking inventory.

I wondered how many of the men in the room were married but willing to forget the fact just long enough to fuck another woman their wives would never know about. I reminded myself that just because my ex was a cheating dickwad, not all men were like that. Some of them actually had the ability to remain faithful to the women they committed themselves to. While there was no way for me to know for sure if the man I picked was really single or not, I promised myself I _would not_ intentionally pick a man I knew was married. I wouldn't hurt someone else the way I had been hurt.

I wasn't sure what I was looking for, exactly, but I knew what I _wasn't_ looking for. Any man that was average height with dark hair and eyes was automatically out of the running. I especially wasn't interested in anyone wearing khakis and Henleys. I was just getting a start on my second martini when I spotted Him from across the room. He was hard to ignore.

He had to be close to six and a half feet tall, which was easily six inches taller than my ex. His eyes were a bright shade of blue. His face was angular and lightly sun kissed. I didn't want anyone pale who looked like He spent His life behind a computer screen, pecking at a keyboard. I wanted someone who looked like He had _life_ in Him. He was perfect.

I remained on my stool, however, biding my time. I waited to see if He would make His way to the bar in His designer suit with the right number of buttons left undone on His crisp, white shirt. When He approached a short time later, my eyes darted to His left hand. No wedding ring.

_Jackpot_, I thought in my mind and refused to give much thought to the possibility He might have a wedding band hidden in His breast pocket the way some men did when they were off the leash. Instead, I went about eating the olive in my martini in an overstated way without looking like a tramp. It would be easy to assume I was a hooker, based on the way I was dressed and the fact that the lucky winner wasn't going to have to work for what I was willing to give.

But I wasn't a hooker, nor was I a slut. I just needed a good, hard fuck to clear my head. If that meant picking up a stranger, which seemed like the best option, then so be it. It wasn't something I would ever do again, but that didn't make it wrong. I stayed right there in my chair and hoped He would notice me.

When I felt a pair of eyes on me, I turned to the right just a little to see Him looking at me in my peripheral vision. He was definitely checking me out. My heartbeat got a little faster. I wasn't used to doing what I was about to do. Usually, I was a romantic. I preferred to be in love with the person I was with, but what I wanted wasn't about love or romance. It was about need, lust and release, nothing more.

He didn't seem to be in a hurry to approach me, which was fine. We kept exchanging looks and small smiles with each other until I finally decided to see if He would follow if I moved. I cleared my throat, picked up my martini and purse, and walked over to a corner table sort of out of the way of the rest of the lingering happy hour customers who were congregated toward the center of the room. No sooner was I settled at my little table than He was casually making Himself comfortable as well.

Neither of us spoke but I didn't take that as a sign of a lack of confidence I would with other men. Just the fact that He had balls enough to sit down across from me, completely uninvited, told me He wasn't at all lacking in the confidence department. We stared at each other for a moment, fully taking one another in. My dress was the right blend of naughty and modest. By that, I mean it hinted at all the things that might, or might not be, underneath. The dress defined all my curves and amplified my cleavage to almost ridiculous levels, yet managed to leave me looking rather classy.

He was wearing a suit that might very well have cost more than my car the year it was built. He wasn't wearing a tie, which was too bad because I wouldn't have minded taking it off of Him only for Him to use it on me. Oh well…in the long run, it wasn't that important. After a few more minutes of silent flirting and a look from Him that definitely got my lady business on high alert, He opened His mouth to speak.

"Don't," I said quickly. "Whatever you're going to say, just don't. I don't want to know your name, where you work, where you come from or why you're here. All I need to know is if you have a hotel room, condoms and a cock that works."

I couldn't believe the words that were coming out of my mouth. It was so unlike me, and yet, it felt good to take control of the situation. He smiled at me, nodded His head and then reached into His pocket. I was afraid He was going to pull out a business card when I saw His wallet, but He didn't. Instead, He dropped some cash on the table.

"I'm not a hooker," I said, taking offense to what He'd done.

"It's for the bartender," He answered and the timbre of His voice finished what His eyes had started.

"Are you married?" I asked Him. That was the only thing I really needed to know of a personal nature.

"No," He answered unequivocally, and while He could have been lying, there was something honest about His face that told me He wasn't. "Are you?"

"No," I answered in return and finished off my martini.

"Are you drunk?" He asked while swilling His bourbon.

"No," I crossed my legs under the table. "I am of completely sound mind and I know what I want."

"Good. I like that in a woman," He said and already, it was getting a little too personal.

"I don't want to know," I held up my hand.

"Fair enough," He said with a respectful nod, although I could see He was curious. I could see questions forming in His eyes but He kept them to Himself. "Shall we?" He asked when He finished His drink a minute later.

I nodded, uncrossed my legs and grabbed my purse. He was already on His feet and extending a large hand to me. It was strange to not ask any questions. The ride up to His room was silent. Well, not entirely silent. I could hear my heart pounding in my ears. When the elevator doors opened, His hand settled on my lower back, giving me a gentle push out of the car. He kept His hand there as we walked down the maze of hallways until we came to His door.

He produced the key from His pocket and slipped it into the little reader on His door. The lights lit up green and there was the click of the lock turning over. He pushed the handle and the door opened easily. He gestured for me to walk ahead of Him, which I did, and with my head held high. I looked around the room as the door clicked closed behind me.

It was a nice room. Just a basic room, but a nice room all the same. There was a single king size bed up against the wall. The headboard was mounted to the wall and there were lights on either side of it. An alarm clock was situated next to a phone on the left side night stand. There was a small circular table by the large window with a chair on either side of it. A long black lacquer dresser was opposite the bed with a mirror mounted over the top. A flat screen TV was also mounted to the wall to the side of the mirror.

The lines were clean and contemporary. The carpet was exactly what I would expect for a chain hotel, as was the wallpaper. An abstract painting hung above the headboard. I didn't bother to look in the bathroom since I didn't anticipate spending much time in there. I dropped my purse on the dresser and turned to face Him. He lingered in at the end of the hallway, watching me take in the room. His hands were in His pockets and He exuded nothing but confidence and sexuality.

Before I could over think my next move, I reached behind me and unzipped my dress. He remained right where He was, just watching me slowly undress. I didn't want my nerves to get the better of me. I didn't want to panic and make it obvious I didn't really know what the fuck I was doing. I mean, I wasn't a virgin, but I wasn't used to playing the seductress. I didn't know a damn thing about how to be a femme fatale but I was going to Meryl Streep the Hell out of it and hope I didn't make a complete fool of myself.

My dress fell with a _whoosh_ around my ankles, exposing my black lingerie underneath. I wasn't wearing much; just a strapless lacy bra and a pair of barely there boyshorts my ex had called trashy. What the fuck did he know from trashy when he was banging whores on the side? Talk about someone with a Madonna complex. I stepped out of my dress and began what felt like the longest walk of my life to cross the room to where He was standing.

So far, I hadn't gotten much of a reaction out of Him but I didn't take it personally. I was actually glad He wasn't fawning all over Himself to tear off my clothes. Being overeager meant I probably wasn't going to get much out of the encounter, and while the whole point was wham, bam, thank you ma'am, I wasn't going to be happy if He treated me like I was nothing more than a receptacle. Of course, there was only one way to find out.

I gathered up all the courage I had and reached out to run my hands up the front of His shirt. His body was firm, which wasn't really a surprise to me. I had figured as much since His suit was fitted just so that it seemed to be stretching to cover His body without being too small. I wanted that jacket gone, and when my hands finally reached His broad shoulders, I pushed the material down His arms. I looked up into His eyes and shock of all shocks; it didn't feel strange to be nearly naked in front of Him.

I didn't feel the urge to cover up or yank the duvet off the bed to hide behind. There was challenge in His eyes, daring me to do more. It seemed strange to undress Him further without having tested the waters with a kiss, so I started there. My hands slid up His arms, past His neck to His jaw. There was just the lightest scratch of stubble on my palms. I loved stubble. My ex had always kept himself baby smooth. I ran my thumb over His bottom lip which was soft and full.

I stepped closer to Him to close the distance between us. I was planted firmly in His personal space and He didn't seem to mind. It was almost like He was waiting for instruction or permission to make His move. It didn't take much coaxing to get His face down to mine. I didn't realize I was biting my bottom lip until His thumb landed on my chin and gently tugged it from between my teeth. Much like I had done to Him, His thumb brushed over my bottom lip, before His hand moved down to my throat.

There was something incredibly sexy about having a man's hand on my throat. Not squeezing, of course, since I didn't get off on being choked, but just the pressure of it. There was something possessive and domineering. Maybe it was _because_ He could close His fist and literally have my life in His hand that did it. There was something that bordered on dangerous about it, forbidden, maybe. Whatever it was, it made me shiver and that much more excited when my lips brushed against His.

I could taste the bourbon He'd been drinking and just a hint of mint from a breath mint I hadn't seen Him pop in His mouth. The combination was nice and when our lips met a second time it was more purposeful. I opened my mouth to let Him taste me as well. Olives weren't nearly as pleasant but He didn't pull away or make any comments. His tongue brushed against mine, testing the waters and searching my mouth.

He was a good kisser. Not too much tongue or sloppiness. I hated feeling like the guy I was kissing was trying to lick my spleen. It was unnecessary, in my humble opinion, and He wasn't like that at all. The pressure of His hand on my throat got a little firmer, holding me to Him while He kissed me. His other hand came up and pulled the chopstick from my hair so it would tumble down my back in big waves of blonde nearly the same color as His.

His hands didn't go any further than my neck and the back of my head to tug on my hair gently. There was a caveman in Him which was just perfect for the evening I had in store. I wanted the aggression. I wanted to be able to flip-flop who was in the driver's seat. I wanted someone who would let me take charge but not be afraid to take it right back. Apparently, He was exactly what I was looking for in every way.

My heart slowed just a little as we fell into a rhythm. As my comfort level increased, my hands started to roam. When we broke apart to breathe, His hand moved away from my throat, only to make room for His lips to settle in its place. His tongue trailed from just below my ear to the junction of my collarbone. I always thought collarbones were the sexiest part on a woman. They were so delicate and graceful, and didn't reveal too much skin when being shown.

I wondered if He felt the same way when He strung a line of kisses along mine before returning to claim my mouth again. Apparently, I'd had enough time to breathe. I didn't mind one bit. I wanted to be breathless, surprised and pushed beyond my normal limits. The fact that I didn't need to tell Him these things only made it that much better. His fingers twisted in my hair; turning my head to the angle He wanted it. I could feel myself giving over more and more control by the moment.

I grabbed the hand that had been on my throat and put it on my breast, curious to see what He would do next. Just as quickly as I had taken control, He took it right back by yanking down the lace that covered my breast and let His fingers trace the fullness of my flesh. He wasn't just a good kisser; He was an amazing kisser, which got me thinking about all the skin He had yet to taste. I shivered again and was just about to find out if His kissing skills still applied when He was working below the neck, when there was a knock at the door.

He growled in frustration, which was a bigger turn on than He probably intended it to be. He put a finger over my lips to keep me quiet, not that I had any intention of speaking. Whoever was on the other side of the door clearly wasn't taking silence for an answer, and knocked again.

"Fuck," He muttered under His breath.

"Answer it," I whispered in His ear, and then bit gently on the shell of it. "I'll wait."

There was lust in His eyes and He clearly wasn't keen on being interrupted. I hadn't noticed the tenting in His pants until He stood up straight, and almost as if His erection had its own gravitational pull, my hand went right to it. He froze where He stood, watching my hand stroke Him while my eyes watched His. The knocking at the door started up again.

"Wait for me on the bed," He ordered in quiet, but firm, tone of voice.

I smiled at Him and turned toward the bed. A slap that stung just a little landed on my backside but I didn't yelp. Instead, I found myself wanting more. If I was going to go outside my comfort zone, I might as well go all the way. I vaguely remembered a drunken night where I demanded my ex spank me during sex, but since he wasn't into it, it didn't work the way I hoped it would. He actually seemed insulted at the idea of being asked to hit me. I hadn't considered maybe he was afraid of it, but maybe he was.

I could feel this little animal inside me, clawing to get out. With Him, I was pretty sure it would be okay. I made my way to the bed and I could feel the wetness when I pressed my thighs together. The friction combined with the lace felt amazing. He jerked open the door and very quickly told the person on the other side to fuck off. If I were a bit more brazen, I would have told Him there was room for more but I was taking enough chances already.

I pushed away the image of myself sitting on some trashy talk show, waiting for DNA results to come back on a child I hadn't planned for. The ex and I hadn't slept together in weeks and he was shooting blanks anyway. He had decided shortly after college that children weren't in his future and had himself fixed. While I fully intended to use a condom in addition to the birth control I was already taking, I knew there would be no stopping God if He decided I was meant to have a child at that point in my life and with a man whose name I didn't even know.

What a story that would be to tell said child.

The hotel room door closed and I turned on my side, pillowing my head on my bent arm. I left my other hand splayed in front of me, stroking the soft material of the duvet. I hadn't even taken my shoes off before lying down. He came back with an apologetic look on His face but offered no explanation as to who was at the door, which I was thankful for.

"I put out the 'do not disturb sign;' we should be fine from now on," He said and then took the phone off the hook and pulled an iPhone from His pants pocket to turn that off as well before tossing it to the side.

I rolled onto my back to make some room for Him to set at the edge of the bed. His long fingers gently ghosted over the side of my face. It was a sweet gesture; one I would have expected from someone who was about to make love to me. While I could certainly appreciate the little bit of sentiment, I didn't want this to be about feelings and deep connections. The connection was supposed to last as long as an orgasm. Then we would retreat to our own worlds and go on with our lives.

All the same, my eyelids fluttered closed for just a moment, taking in the sensation of His hand moving so lightly across my skin. Goose bumps rose in the wake of everywhere His hand touched and by the time His fingertips made it to my nipples, I thought they were going to explode. His lips on mine had my eyes open again. I had never kissed someone with my eyes open before and I was relieved to see His eyes were closed. Looking into His eyes while He kissed me would have been too much for me.

"Turn over, lover," He said when He got to my ear.

_Lover?_ That was unexpected, but what else was He supposed to call me? At least it held the tone of something erotic, yet classy. It was certainly better than Him calling me a dirty little slut or something equally offensive when it was meant to be hot. Lover was, by far, the better choice of pet names. And it helped that no one else had ever called me that. Even better, for the rest of my life if I ever was called that again, I would think of Him.

I turned over and tried to think of something sexy, yet dignified to call Him, but lost all train of thought when His long fingers trailed my spine and came to a stop at the clasp of my bra, before continuing their journey down my back and stopping at the waist of my panties. Just His fingertips found their way under the smooth black lace. He lingered there for a moment but then pulled them out again to run them over crest of my backside. My thighs squeezed together to get more of that friction I so desperately wanted.

My panties stayed on while His fingers continued down the back of my thighs, both of His hands moving at the same agonizingly slow pace. Every cell in my body came alive under those fingertips that were barely touching me. Parts of me ached that I didn't even know existed, but mostly that aching was concentrated between my thighs. I wanted Him. I kept quiet and my face pressed against the mattress while He touched me. He got all the way to my ankles but didn't touch my shoes.

I was surprised when I felt His teeth sink gently into my lace covered ass. The bite wasn't hard enough to break the skin, but tough enough to suggest a rough and playful mood. Without waiting for Him to ask me, I turned over and exposed both breasts to Him. His large hand swatted my bra off the bed and across the room. His kisses landed on my lower abdomen before moving up. His tongue briefly dipping into my navel and the way it flicked gave me a hint as to what it would feel like for that tongue to press against my clit.

The wetness in my panties only increased and I was on the verge of telling Him to get on with it when His fingers pushed my legs apart. _Yes! Finally!_, I thought to myself, but His hand didn't invade my panties. No, He touched me over the lace, using the texture in whatever beautifully evil plans He had in mind. His mouth fastened around one of my nipples while His fingers worked between my legs.

"You're very wet for me, lover," He purred against my skin before attacking my other nipple with equal zeal as He'd used the first time.

My hips rolled under His hand and then bucked up, wanting to feel more of Him. He was still dressed and that just wouldn't do. "You're wearing too many clothes," I gasped for air when He pressed a little harder on my clit.

"Ladies first," He said and used His teeth on my nipple.

I cried out and felt my hands sinking into His hair, holding Him to me while He assaulted one breast and then the other. He quite literally had me in the palm of His hand and I was pretty sure I was going to explode soon. But then He backed off and stood up at the side of the bed. My eyes popped open in confusion.

"What's wrong?" I asked, wondering why the fuck He had stopped when I was so close.

"Undress me," He ordered.

I got up on my knees and began to unbutton His shirt. My lips trailed after my fingers that were shaking just a little. I got His button down off, and then tugged the wife beater from the waistband of His perfectly tailored dress pants. With His chest bare I was able to see just how much I had underestimated Him. I had assumed He was in good shape, but that would have been an insult. His muscles were nicely chiseled without being too big. I hated body builder types. I'd slept with one in the past and vowed _never again_. He didn't fit that mold, however, and I said a quick prayer of thanks for it.

My mouth went to work tasting His skin, stopping to see if His nipples were as sensitive as my own. He growled when I bit gently, which got Him a similar bite on the other side. While I toyed with Him, I flicked open His belt and pulled it from the loops of His pants. I dropped it on the floor, wanting it to have no part in whatever festivities we were about to partake in. Spanking was one thing, but I didn't think props were necessary. That was a little too advanced for me.

I got the fly of His pants open and ran my hands around His hips to His ass and did a little groping before pushing the material down. He had, bar none, the most amazing ass I ever had the pleasure of groping. Figuring what was good for the goose was good for the gander, I managed to get around Him just enough to bite His ass the way He had bitten mine. When I looked up into His eyes, I saw amusement and approval there.

"Do you like biting, lover?" He asked as I moved back to His front and began to pull at the legs of His boxers.

"Never tried it," I admitted while running my nails up and down His thighs. I did a silent victory cheer when I felt Him shiver just a little, and then reached up to the waist of His boxers. There was definitely an obstruction keeping me from just yanking them down and I wasn't interested in causing Him pain that wasn't quickly forgotten with pleasure. "It's too bad you weren't wearing a tie, though," I smiled up at Him.

"You like being tied up?" He looked surprised, which was refreshing since it probably would have been easy to assume I was into all sorts of kinky shit. I was bordering on desperate for Him to fuck me and I refused to let Him tell me His name.

"I've never tried that either, but tonight is a night for firsts," I admitted and quickly wished I could take it back. I was telling Him too much. Strangers; we were supposed to be strangers.

"Do you want me to tie you up?" He asked in a dangerous tone that had my thighs rubbing together again.

While I felt comfortable with Him, maybe letting Him tie me up was a bad idea. Perhaps that was something I should be saving for my next relationship. Or maybe if we got to a round two, we could try it then.

"We don't have to do anything you don't want to do," His fingertips tilted my chin up so I had to look Him in the eyes. "If you're uncomfortable, we'll stop."

"You bet your balls we will," I said firmly and He laughed.

Fuck. That laugh was just… no, I couldn't think about it. I had to get my head back in the game and stop thinking so much. _Slut on, conscience off_, I told myself while easing down His boxers. What awaited me there left me speechless.

"Holy third leg, Batman," I muttered and He smirked at me.

I gulped. What the fuck else was there to do at the moment? Well, okay, there were plenty of things I could do, but all that my body would allow was a gulp. I had a brief moment of panic while I worried about whether or not I would be able to accommodate Him. Comparatively, my ex was average and the two other guys I'd been with were bigger, but not His size. The good news, at least I hoped I was presuming correctly, was that it seemed like He most likely knew what He was doing.

While it would have been wrong of me to assume He wasn't a virgin strictly because He was incredibly sexy and kissed like a house on fire, I sincerely doubted He was. No doubt my look of amazement wasn't the first He'd received in His sexual past. Thank God I wasn't a teenager, or a virgin, or I probably would have run screaming from the room, nearly naked as I was. He was going to have to go easy on me but I was willing to bet He was used to Hearing that.

"Do you need a permit to carry that?" I asked Him.

Again there was that laugh. There was something almost infectious about it and I dropkicked the little voice that got sad over not hearing it again after tonight. He used action rather than words to answer me and placed my hand on His cock, showing me the proper amount of pressure and when to twist my hand. I was grateful for the tutorial; just as I was thankful He backed off quickly to let me do my own thing.

I worked His boxers off the rest of the way and He left them pooled around His feet instead of kicking them away. I tried to ignore the dull throbbing in my core, but the more I tried to ignore it the more intense it became. With that in mind, my hand moved faster. Since my ex had always been a little more on the prudish side with me, he wasn't insistent on oral sex. I'd give it every once in a while when I wasn't really all that into having sex at all just to keep him at bay.

With Him, however, I discovered I didn't mind it. In fact, I welcomed it as a challenge. I moved back on the bed and said, "Lay down for me."

He did as I requested and stretched out on the bed, finally kicking away His boxers. I hadn't seen Him remove His shoes but they were gone. I made quick work of His socks before crawling up His legs. I was just about to descend on Him when He spoke up.

"Turn around," He said.

"What?" Call me crazy, but turning around wasn't going to work.

"Put your legs here," He said, patting the mattress on either side of Him.

Oh. Oooooh! Well, that made more sense. It was also a position I had never tried before and was willing to give a chance to. I turned and then slung a leg over Him so I had one on either side. He grabbed my hips and pulled my lower half closer to His face until I could feel His breath on my inner thighs. I whimpered quietly, wanting Him to touch me but afraid to say so in case He was in a teasing mood again.

His hands palmed my ass with just His thumbs pressed against my center. My hips gyrated, trying to get Him where I wanted Him but a gentle slap on my backside stopped me from moving. I took a deep breath and then leaned forward. If my panties had been off, I would have been completely exposed to Him. My tongue darted out cautiously, and a long lick from the base of His shaft all the way to the head had Him gripping me a little harder. My tongue swirled around the tip and with the new moisture on His skin; my hand closed around His cock and started stroking again.

I kept up the stroking and swirling for a little while until I finally got up the nerve to go a little further and I took as much of Him in my mouth as I could. I felt His body tense under mine and then His breath on my center again. I felt His teeth drag against the lace and I shivered. Biting was bad, considering where my teeth were, so I didn't.

I was starting to wonder if my panties were ever going to come off when I heard the unmistakable sound of lace ripping. I moaned in surprise and it didn't escape me that He had probably timed it so I would very literally have my mouth full when He did it. The upward thrust of His hips in response caught me off guard, but it wasn't as horrible as it could have been. But then His tongue was tracing my slick folds and searching for a place to bury itself and that was all I could think about.

His thumbs parted me and His tongue dipped inside me. I released His cock from my mouth and kept stroking while getting myself upright as much as I could. With our significant height difference, it made positioning a little tricky. Thankfully, His height was concentrated in His legs and not His torso. My hips moved over His face, grinding down occasionally in search of more friction.

The ex had _never_ fucked me with his tongue and I was sure even if he had, it wouldn't have felt as good as what I was currently feeling. Those thumbs that had been a source of torture before became my Godsend when they battled for control of my clit. I descended on His cock once again and sucked a little harder than before. It dawned on me we hadn't had the birth control talk but I promised myself we would before He fucked me. There would be no Baby Daddy talk shows in my future.

His grunts and growls sent amazing vibrations through me and just when I was on the edge and about to go over, He managed to get a hold of my hair and pull me up by it. The move caught me by surprise. Quick as a cat, He had me on my back and His mouth on mine. The kiss was sure to leave my lips swollen and bruised, and while one hand was pinching and twisting my nipple, the other was sliding through the wetness between my legs.

"You're very good at sucking cock, lover," He told me and then kissed me again, pulling away before we could find a rhythm. "Almost too good. It wouldn't be good for either of us if I cum too soon."

Fuck no it wouldn't!

"But you can cum all you like," He said before claiming my lips at the same time He pushed two fingers inside me.

His kiss swallowed my moans and my fingers dug into His shoulders. His hand worked between us, His fingers pumping in and out steadily while His thumb worked my clit. The kiss broke and my head thrashed from side to side. My hips rose to meet His fingers and He bit my neck almost gently.

"That's it, lover, ride my fingers," He said and then tugged on my ear with His teeth.

"Oh, God," I moaned, feeling my orgasm so close.

"You're so tight," He said and I both rejoiced and winced when He added another finger inside me. I'd never done that before either, and His fingers were big. That's no surprise considering what was in store. "Cum for me, lover," He pinched my clit and that was it.

I screamed and clawed at Him. If I came that hard from just His fingers, I was in for one hell of a night. Condoms. We needed condoms. How many did I have with me? Fuck, would they even fit Him? He took care of it Himself when He pulled His fingers from inside me and looked into my eyes while He licked them clean.

"Delicious," He smeared His finger over my lips, and then leaned in to kiss me deeply so I could taste myself all over Him.

No sooner was He kissing me than He was gone. My eyes fluttered closed while I tried to catch my breath. I heard a zipper being opened and looked over to where He was standing. That gorgeous ass of His was all I could really see, which suited me just fine. When He turned around, He had a box in His hand. Condoms.

I rejoiced at Him having what He needed and even more so when I saw it was a new box and there were a dozen inside. I didn't think I had the stamina to use all twelve in one night but I'd take what He was willing to give. I was also willing to bet I'd pass out from exhaustion before we were able to get through all twelve of those condoms. He opened the box, pulled a package from it and dropped the rest on the night stand.

I watched Him tear the package open and roll the condom onto Himself. I took a deep breath and expected Him to pounce on me. Instead, He stretched out beside me and pulled me on top of Him, lifting one of my legs so I was left straddling Him again. "This way is better, at first, so you can take your time," He explained and rubbed the head of His cock against my slick opening.

I moaned and braced my hands on His chest. I leaned forward to kiss Him, both impressed and thankful for His thoughtfulness. I had definitely picked the right guy for the night. He teased me while we kissed until finally, enough was enough. He positioned Himself at my entrance and slowly, I started to sink down. While I was plenty wet and He had done about as thorough a job as He could to prepare me, my body still had to stretch to take Him. It was a feeling I wasn't used to and would have been more painful if He wouldn't have let go of His cock to rub my clit instead.

"Oh fuck," I moaned and He wasn't even half way in yet.

I pushed up just a little and then started to sink down again. I repeated the process, lifting myself until just the tip of Him was inside me before sinking down. It made taking all of Him a little easier and eventually, He was buried as deep in me as He was going to get. I stayed still for a moment, letting my body adjust to its new friend. His hands settled on my hips but didn't push for me to move. His eyes were glazed over and I'm sure mine weren't much different.

My hips rocked when I felt the urge and then it was like we were off to the races. I began to move up and down and His hips moved to meet mine. The combined thrusts were almost dizzying and His hands settling on my breasts added another layer of awesome to what I was experiencing. We rolled over and I learned just how flexible I could be when necessary. He had me twisted just the way He wanted me, and started pounding.

I cried out, grasping for His wrists, the sheets, whatever I could get my hands on. I wanted more and told Him so. "Oh, God, fuck me harder!" I screamed, not recognizing the sound of my own voice.

Any hesitation I had about what I was doing went away. Name or no name, this was absolutely perfect and just what I needed. He moved my legs a few times, shifting the angle He was reaching inside me. Each position brought a new feeling and He caught me off guard when He suddenly pulled out and put His head between my legs. His tongue replaced His cock and the teasing I had experienced earlier resumed until I was begging Him to fuck me again.

He flipped me onto my stomach and pulled me up by my hips. "Keep your head down," He said before He thrust inside me again.

"Don't stop! Don't stop!" I screamed when His hands gripped my hips hard enough I was sure there would be bruises the next day. "Fuck! Don't stop!"

Almost as if He had the ability to read my mind, He delivered a stinging slap to my backside that made my core clench around Him. He did it again and again until I was sure my ass was red, but I didn't care. My hand found its way to my clit and started rubbing hard and fast, matching the strokes of His cock. I came hard, my orgasm shaking my entire body. The pounding slowed just a little, and His hands collected mine and brought them behind my back.

"Greedy," He grunted and resumed the fiercer pounding from before.

"Fuck me," I whimpered, more to myself than to Him.

I looked over my shoulder and caught the expression of sheer concentration on His face. I felt another orgasm building when He pulled out again and I was on flipped on my back. His stamina was certainly impressive as He pushed inside me again and forced my legs up against my chest, pinning them at the back of my knees. He thrust harder than before; angling Himself just right to hit a spot inside me I didn't know existed.

I screamed with every deep thrust until I exploded again, my core milking Him of His own orgasm. He finished with an animalist roar and let go of my legs. They fell to the sides, my body feeling like jelly. He collapsed on top of me, but managed to hold up most of His weight on His sweaty arms. We were a tangled, heaving mess of limbs and hair, each of us gasping for air and scrambling for the ability to find words.

When He had recovered sufficiently, He gently pulled out of me and I immediately wanted Him back. It couldn't be over so quickly but a look at the clock told me more than two hours had passed since we first reached the room. Had time really gone by so fast? It seemed like it had only been minutes since we first got to His room.

It took a few minutes for me to get myself together enough to realize it was probably best if I got going. He was still flat on his back beside me, sucking in oxygen and staring up at the ceiling. I didn't know Him well enough to know what He was thinking. If He was anything like me, He wasn't thinking about much.

"Thank you," I smiled at Him and gave him a complimentary stroke before rolling over to get out of bed.

"Where are you going?" He pulled me back to Him.

"We're finished here, aren't we?" I smiled over my shoulder.

"That was just the practice round," He grinned at me and then set Himself between my legs again.

"Oh Jesus," I moaned the second His tongue touched my clit. I was still experiencing aftershocks from round one.

My moans didn't seem to interfere with His program, however, and He stayed between my legs until I came twice. By then He was hard and ready to go again and I was starting to question what I'd gotten myself into. Yes, I wanted to fuck, but I also wanted to be able to walk again. I hadn't even seen Him dispose of the first condom but He was reaching for a second.

I lay there panting while He put it on and then He turned me over again. My hands were very familiar with grabbing onto the sheets by that point and I wasn't the least bit surprised when He propped me up on my knees. But rather than entering me like I thought He would, He rubbed His cock against my clit and slowly pumped a finger inside me.

"That feels so fucking good," I groaned and tried to back up to get more friction. But then He pulled his finger out and trailed it up to my other entrance, which made me panic a little.

"I won't hurt you," He said in a reassuring way. "Relax, lover."

He was gentle about it, slowly working His finger deeper and deeper into my ass. I'd never done that before and at first, I wasn't sure how I felt about it. It was different, that's for sure. I probably would have gotten nothing from it if it wasn't for the teasing of his cock against my clit. That felt fucking amazing.

"Such a tight little ass you have, lover," He said, His cock suddenly pressing at the entrance where His finger wasn't.

"A finger is all you get," I told him and I meant it.

"As you wish," He said and then pushed inside me.

"Oh fuck!" I clamped down on Him immediately. I was so close to coming again just from the way He'd been teasing me.

He grabbed my hair and tugged on it while He started to thrust into me hard, His finger working a counter rhythm. "You're a dirty girl, aren't you, lover? Letting me finger fuck your tight little ass while you're trying so hard not to come all over my cock."

I didn't say anything. I couldn't even if I wanted to. My brain switched off and my body was calling the shots. I moved purely on instinct and was willing to do just about anything He wanted, as long as He didn't try to put His cock in my ass. There were some things I just wasn't willing to do, and that was one of them.

His finger slipped out of my ass and I was a little disappointed when He didn't put it back. But then He put that hand to use, applying more stinging slaps to my backside while He fucked me and I couldn't complain. I realized shortly after He started that I probably could have come just from a spanking alone. That was something I would have to try out with someone else.

I was just about to come when He pulled out of me and flipped me over, which meant I was going to have to let the tension build all over again. If He kept that up, I was going to black out when I finally came. I lost track of how many different ways He moved my legs until He finally found what He was looking for. He knew He found it when I started to scream with each thrust.

I was starting to get hoarse from all the screaming, and it briefly occurred to me that it was somewhat of a miracle the neighbors hadn't called down to the front desk to complain about the noise we were making. Surely we were keeping someone awake. He grabbed my hand and put it on my clit.

"Make that pussy come for me, lover," He growled and I was powerless to object. I needed it. Badly.

"Oh, fuck. Your cock is so fucking big," I moaned while moving my fingers furiously to give Him what He wanted.

There was another slap on my ass and it sent me over the edge. My muscles clamped down with a force I didn't know they had and for a second, everything really did go black. My entire body shook with the force of the orgasm that rocked me and I had never experienced anything like it. He delivered a few more deep thrusts before pulling out of me and finishing Himself. I could imagine what it would feel like if he came on me and for just a second, I wished He would have.

I was sweating, sticky and barely able to breathe. He wasn't in much better condition and all I could do was pray a fire alarm didn't go off somewhere because I didn't think I would be able to get up and walk. I was still shaking slightly from the orgasm and my heart was beating like a jack rabbit on speed. I couldn't recall ever feeling so good, or thoroughly fucked, in my entire life.

He disposed of the condom, disappeared in the bathroom and came back a few moments later with a warm, damp washcloth. He cleaned me off gently before tossing the cloth to the side and lying beside me. When He tried to snuggle me, I resisted.

"We fucked. This wasn't making love," I looked Him in the eyes as I spoke.

"I didn't ask you to marry me, did I?" He retorted and then turned us so I was being spooned from behind.

I shut up, realizing the potential of the position we were in. I kept quiet for a little while, collecting my thoughts. I wanted more but maybe it was best not to get greedy, as He had already once proclaimed me to be. I felt comfortable with Him but I was also starting to feel something of a connection and that was a direct violation of the whole purpose of my evening. It was meant to be an experience and nothing more.

But then I felt the stirring of His lower half and He started to grind against me a little. Even though somewhere in my brain I knew going again was probably a bad idea, I lifted my leg onto His to give Him access to my center. He wasted no time reacquainting those miracle fingers with my sensitive clit. I hissed at the contact, but rolled my hips to get more friction. Before I knew it, He was reaching behind Him for a third condom. I heard the tearing of foil and the strange sound of latex being unrolled.

He slid inside me again with absolutely no resistance from my body and while I fully expected Him to start pounding away, He was a little more gentle the third time around. I turned my head as much as I could to kiss Him. One of His hands alternated between my breasts while the other worked between my thighs. He sucked gently on my neck, using His teeth just a little. I reached behind me and grabbed that amazing ass of His to keep Him inside me as best I could.

It was amazing, as quickly as it ended. My orgasm left me feeling warm and tingly, and though I cried out, I didn't scream like I did before. I knew I was done then. If He fucked me again, I was going to get attached, or really black out, and I couldn't have that. I would end up giving Him my number and telling Him to call me, and that's not the way it was supposed to go. If I could just get my traitor legs to follow my commands, I would get up and get dressed.

Instead, I found myself pinned to the bed for another round of snuggling. I was grateful when I heard His breathing even out behind me. Did I dare get comfortable enough to sleep? I managed to wiggle free without waking Him. I located my purse and got out my cell phone. I set my alarm for two hours from then and clutched my phone securely in my hand before getting back into bed with Him.

He kissed my shoulder in His sleep, but made no further advances on me. I closed my eyes and let myself relax. A nap wouldn't kill me…

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><p><strong>Assuming anyone is still with me and not headed for the nearest cold shower, here's the deal: brainmate Scribeninja is attempting to convince me to extend this. I've written some on it, but I'm still debating over whether or not to post it. I had no intention of this being anything more than a one shot, but she can be really damn convincing. If she doesn't get me in gchat or twitter, she's got my damn phone number and isn't afraid to use it. So I don't know if this is it, or if there will be more.<strong>

**Hopefully this will hold over the readers who are stalking "Ready to Start," since it'll be a while before we get lemons. But the good news is, I wrote lemons for _that_ story the same night I wrote this and it shows. Big time. Seriously, I had epic gutter brain for two days. So there you have it. Thanks for reading!**


	2. 6 Months Later

**Alright, here's the deal...due to popular demand (and the occasional death threat), I decided to give this a go. I have absolutely no plan for this whatsoever and I have no idea how often I'm going to be able to update it. I'm going to leave it up to everyone else whether this turns into a romantic relationship, or they remain casual fuck buddies. Deal? Sweet! On with the show!**

* * *

><p><strong>EPOV<strong>

I don't know what I was thinking, exactly, when I agreed to let Pam set me up on a blind date. Really, I had no reason to believe Pam would set me up with someone she didn't think I would like. Pam knew me well, perhaps better than anyone. The more I thought about it, the more I was willing to admit, if only to myself, that the reason I had agreed to the date was to get Her out of my mind.

I didn't know Her name, or really anything about Her. I met Her on what was probably one of the most frustrating nights of my life. I had gone to the hotel thinking I was going to meet 'the one,' and it turned out 'the one' was nothing but a liar. I should have known. There was a reason I didn't get too involved with the internet unless I was emailing or banking. I didn't get involved with Facebook, Myspace, Tumblr, Twitter or any of the other big name social networking website.

I preferred to communicate the old fashioned way, either face to face or on the phone. Pam, however, took it upon herself to sign me up for some stupid online dating service. I had every intention of deleting the profile but I completely forgot about it. Then I started getting a bunch of emails that reminded me I needed to close the damn account. I made the mistake of opening a message from a woman calling herself Max, and with that single email she sent me, a ball started rolling that ultimately led to me showing up at the hotel the night I met Her.

Max turned out to be something other than what she represented herself to be, and that pretty much killed any chance at us having a relationship. I sent Max packing and contemplated checking out of the hotel before deciding a drink was in order. I spotted Her the second I walked into the bar. She was sitting there stirring Her martini with the olive. I noticed Her looking at me out of the corner of Her eye every now and then, but neither of us made any effort to speak.

She was beautiful, even though I had only seen Her profile. Her features were delicate and the line of Her jaw was begging to be kissed repeatedly. Her blonde hair was pulled back and held in place by what appeared to be a chopstick of some kind. She was wearing a strand of pearls around Her slender neck. Her collarbones were just barely visible, and were nicely framed thanks to the strapless dress She was wearing. Her skin was a lovely shade of golden brown, suggesting She spent a lot of time outdoors.

My eyes traveled down Her body, stopping to drink in Her legs. I wouldn't say they were terribly long, but they were very nicely sculpted and ended with Her feet nicely fitted into a pair of really sexy black heels. When she got up and walked over to an empty table farther from the bar, I waited a few seconds before following Her. I was definitely attracted to her and I was blown away when She shut me down when I tried to speak.

She didn't want names, or any other sort of information about me. All She wanted was sex. Given that I had shown up at the hotel thinking that was exactly what I was going to get, I couldn't quite believe my luck. She wasn't the person I expected I'd be having it with, but no way was Max going to get any after I learned the truth. I wouldn't say I settled for Her, but I sure as shit wasn't going to turn Her down either.

What followed was perhaps the best six hours of my life. I had surprised myself with Her. While I didn't mind taking control in bed, I wasn't usually quite as aggressive as I had been with Her. But the more aggressive I was the more turned on She got. I would ease up just enough to let Her push back but then I was right on Her again, taking what I wanted, when I wanted it. I suppose I was working out some of my frustration over what happened with Max. She was everything I thought Max would be. A shrink would probably have a field day with me.

But I could safely say I never left a sexual encounter feeling more satisfied (and still wanting more) than I did with Her. She was perfect. From the roundness and weight of her breasts to the way her tight little pussy milked me when She came; She was perfection. She tasted even better than She smelled which was hard to believe. The noises She made while I was fucking Her were unbelievably sexy and I started to wonder what I'd done to deserve Her. The fact that She didn't want to snuggle after wasn't surprising, but I would be lying if I said I wasn't disappointed. All the same, She gave in, and falling asleep while curled around Her felt much better than it should have.

Waking up alone was generally a good thing, as far as I was concerned. I didn't do the relationship thing very often, mostly because I was too busy with work to have much time to invest in a relationship. That's not to say I hadn't had them in the past; I was just very selective about who I gave my limited free time to. Relationships weren't really a priority to me. But for Her, I would have made time in my schedule. Fuck, I probably would have sold off my share of the business if it meant I'd get to keep Her for a while.

Pam, in her subtle as a flying brick kind of way, pointed out to me that I was working too much and enjoying life too little. I hated to admit it, but she was right. I couldn't really remember the last time I did anything just because I felt like it. So when she suggested the blind date with the friend of a former fuck buddy of hers, I had my reservations. Deep down I also knew I needed it. All work and no play and all that…

Pam set us up to meet at the same hotel where I had met Her six months ago. If I wouldn't have known any better, I might have thought Pam was trying to tell me something. I never said a word about Her, only that I had decided to spend the night in the hotel since it was already paid for. Pam wouldn't tell me anything about this woman, no matter how creatively I tried to ask.

"Calm your tits, Northman. You know I wouldn't set you up with someone I know you'd hate. I don't hate her either, for that matter, and let's face it, that's the most important thing," Pam grinned at me.

"Yes, Pam, it's my number one priority to make sure you like the women I date," I rolled my eyes at her.

"I'm glad we agree," she completely disregarded my sarcasm, which was right on par for Pam. "She'll be at the Gifford Hotel at seven. She'll be wearing a red dress."

"That's all I get? What if there are fifteen women in the room wearing red?"

"She's blonde. That's all you get. You'll figure it out, I'm sure," Pam smirked and then pranced out of my office. "Oh, and Eric," she stuck her head back into my office. "Wear the black suit with a red tie, and for fuck's sake, leave the Converse at home."

I threw a magazine at the door and Pam cackled as she made her way down the hall. She hated my Chucks but I'd been wearing them since I was thirteen and saw no reason to quit. They were comfy as fuck and I hated getting dressed up. Pam was always telling me I had the kind of body that was built for suits and high end fashion, but I much preferred my ratty old jeans and t-shirts. How fancy did I need to be to sit behind a desk all night long anyway?

All the same, I had to assume this mystery woman was going to be expecting me in the outfit Pam told me to wear, which left me no choice but to wear it. If there was no chemistry between me and whoever this woman was, having a drink together wouldn't be all that bad. Pam knew better than to set me up with an airhead, so even if I didn't get the urge to fuck the woman senseless, at least we could have an interesting conversation. That's what dates were about anyway, weren't they?

I slipped out when Pam wasn't looking so I wouldn't have to deal with any of her last minute bullshit. I went home and changed out of my far too plain work clothes and located the suit I hadn't worn since the night I met Her. I really wished I had at least gotten Her name, but She refused to give it to me. I could have snuck a peek at Her driver's license after She fell asleep but that probably would have only made it worse when She left.

For the last six months I'd been searching faces on the street, hoping I would see Hers walk past me, or standing in a crowd. I definitely wanted to see Her again, and not just because those six hours I'd spent with Her provided me with the best sex of my life. While we hadn't done a whole lot of talking, I had gotten a taste of Her personality. She had sass and a sense of humor, two of my favorite qualities in a woman. She seemed like the kind of woman who knew what She wanted and went after it without apologizing.

I wasn't generally a religious man, but after the way things went with Max, I was left with no choice but to say a quick prayer in hopes this was a legitimate thing and not Pam's idea of a sick joke. I walked into the hotel a few minutes before seven and wasn't at all surprised to see the bar was busy just off the lobby. Since the hotel was a block away from the convention center, there were tons of people from out of town who ended up there once their trade shows and meetings were done for the day. In the suit I was wearing, I fit right in with the rest of the nine to fivers.

While it's true I ended up doing a lot of paperwork and spent plenty of time behind a desk, I wasn't there from nine to five like a drone. The business was mine (and Pam's) and I chose the work I did. I delegated the rest to other people. I had no interest in being a corporate drone, known only by my employee number or 'that guy in finance.' I did a quick sweep of the bar to see if the Lady in Red was waiting for me, but the only woman I saw wearing red definitely wasn't the one I was looking for. Pam had said blonde and although she hadn't specified if it was natural blonde or not—and I'm quite sure Pam would have the balls to ask such a question- I figured she wasn't referring to a blonde with four inches of black roots.

I ordered my usual bourbon on the rocks and stayed right there at the bar so I could keep an eye on anyone who walked in. I was doing pretty well at it until some tacky redhead tried to feel me up. I turned away from the door for just a minute and that was when my date must have slipped in. It took me a minute to lose Big Red before I scanned the room again. A flash of blonde hair a few tables over got my attention. She pulled off a black trench coat to reveal a red dress.

Bingo.

I grabbed my drink off the bar and made my way through the crowd to where Goldilocks was sitting. I took a deep breath and hoped I wasn't about to have a Monet experience before getting into her line of sight. Imagine my surprise when my eyes met hers and I knew exactly who she was.

"Holy shit," I muttered since I couldn't think of anything else to say. "It's you."

"Oh fuck," she turned almost the same shade of red as the dress she was wearing. "Pam said tall. She should have said giant."

"She also said blonde. She should have said sexiest woman on the planet," I smiled at her. "Do I finally get the pleasure of your name?"

"You didn't get enough pleasure last time we met?" she smirked at me.

Minx. "Oh, I got plenty, believe me. I've thought about it quite a bit."

"There was definitely spank bank material," she leaned back in her seat, and I got my first real glimpse of the cleavage that had thoroughly captivated me the last time we met. "Are you going to sit or should I make an appointment with my chiropractor to correct the damage to my neck from staring up at you?"

Right. Sitting. I could do that. I sat across from her just as I had months before, only this time she was sans liquor. "Can I get you a drink?" I asked her since it didn't seem right she should go without. I was pretty sure I'd give her whatever she wanted.

"No, I'm perfectly content to remain sober. I don't drink very often," she explained.

"Me either," I stared down at my bourbon and tried to ignore the way her necklace kept getting caught between her breasts. Every time it did, I wanted to reach over and pluck it from its preferred hiding place. "So are we exchanging names?"

"I don't know. It was kind of fun not getting yours. The night I met you I was in a pretty rough head space and I really didn't need to deal with another person's baggage or bullshit," she told me.

"And now?"

"Now I'm happy to see you," she admitted with a smile that was quite genuine.

I studied her face and took in the few changes since the last time I saw her. Her hair was down and a little shorter than before. It was also perfectly straightened and parted to the left. She was wearing a pair of glasses that gave her that sexy librarian look and there was a tiny diamond stud in her right nostril. Had she always been pierced? I couldn't remember, but I was sure I would have noticed if she was.

"Do you always wear glasses, or was I missing something last time?" I asked her, since she looked really fucking hot in glasses.

"I do now. I didn't find out I needed them until two months ago. Looks like I'm getting a little near sighted in my old age."

"Old age? You can't be more than what, twenty-five?" I looked her up and down as much as I could.

She grinned a little before saying, "I wish. I haven't been twenty-five for almost five years."

"Really?" I never would have guessed. "Could have fooled me."

"Thank you," she leaned forward a little and asked, "So what were you doing in the hotel the night we met? Were you out cruising for a nameless fuck too, or did I just get lucky?"

"I think we both got lucky but to answer your question, no, I wasn't here for that. I was supposed to meet someone," I told her and took a drink.

"Is this the same person who knocked on your door when we were upstairs?"

"It was, actually, but I told her to get lost," I said harshly, but not because I was upset with the woman in front of me asking questions.

"You ditched another woman to fuck someone you didn't even know?" she clearly wasn't impressed, which meant I was going to have to tell her the whole embarrassing story.

She listened patiently, not interrupting me once while I told her the story of how I met Max. I explained how she'd claimed to be a single mother raising her only son on her own after her husband was killed. It was a sad story that had gotten to me only because I had been raised by a single mother myself. I knew how hard it was for them to meet someone of substance who wouldn't run screaming in the other direction if there was a child already in the picture.

Unfortunately, the picture Max had sent me of herself was at least thirty years old, as was the son she claimed she was raising. She figured bending the truth wasn't that big of a deal, but it was; it absolutely was. How was I ever supposed to trust that she was telling the truth after that? Not to mention, I wasn't into cougars, much less women old enough to be my mother. Just the idea of it gave me dry heaves.

"That's fucked up," she said with a shake of her head. "I have a few internet friends but I've never once considered doing the online dating thing. It seems a little too skeevy for me and I am not interested in being a Myspace whore."

I liked her more and more by the second.

"Exactly. The fact that I didn't kill Pam for that is still shocking to me. I never would have met Max if it wasn't for her."

"True, but you wouldn't have met me either," she pointed out.

"And I still don't know your name. Or maybe you prefer that I call you lover in public?"

She flushed slightly before leaning in a little closer to me and saying, "I'd actually prefer if you did that in private."

Did that mean she wanted us to get a room? If that was the case, I'd be totally on board with that shit. It'd been more than a month since my last sexual encounter that had nothing to do with good old Rosy and her sisters. But I didn't want to be a presumptuous bastard so I made no comment. Instead I smirked and offered her my drink.

She took it and watching her bring it to her lips was torture. I could only be thankful there wasn't a straw in the glass or I probably would have lost my mind and fucked her right there in the middle of the crowded bar, onlookers be damned. She only took a sip before handing the glass back to me, making sure her fingers brushed mine when she did it.

"Are we really going to do the date thing?" she asked me with a curious expression.

"Do you want to do the date thing?" I finished off the last of the bourbon.

"I should tell you now that I've been calling you Viking in my head for the last six months. You're not the only one who has spank bank material from that night, and contrary to what you might think based on the way we met, I don't go around fucking random guys like that all the time. I haven't had sex since you."

Jesus fucking Christ. That was a goddamn shame. I should have manned up and put my business card in her purse. No doubt she would have called me long ago and we could have been meeting on and off for fuck dates, if nothing else. What the hell was wrong with me?

"The way I see it, we can sit down here and make small talk until we can't take it anymore, or we can just get a room now and talk after we fuck," she said with a shrug.

"I think I'll take what's behind door number two," I said, and stood up.

"I was so hoping you'd say that," she smiled up at me, and gathered her things.

**o.O.o.O.o**

Since I had paid for the room the last time, she insisted on paying this time. While she was handing over her credit card, I got a peek at her license. "Susannah," I said out loud without realizing it after repeating it in my head over and over again.

"No one calls me that," she said over her shoulder while we walked to the elevators.

"So what do people call you?" I asked while she punched the call button for the elevators.

"You can keep calling me lover," she shrugged, and then grabbed my hand to pull me into the elevator behind her when the doors opened.

"So does that mean you're going to keep calling me Viking?" I asked with amusement, and she nodded. "You realize, Susannah, that if this is a date, we should be able to call each other by proper names."

"I'll tell you what people call me after you properly pillage me, Viking," she grabbed my tie and pulled my mouth down to hers.

Was she always so aggressive? While it was true she wasn't afraid to be the one to get the ball rolling, I certainly remembered that she liked it when I took control. She'd liked when I was rough with her, pulling her hair, tossing her around, fucking her hard and spanking her. Fuck, those spankings. I swear, I thought she was going to cum just from that alone. I had never really gotten all that into it, but seeing her reaction made me want to experiment.

So just to test the waters, I backed her up against the wall of the elevator and pinned her hands over her head. I could feel her nipples were already hard when they pressed against my chest. The elevator ride didn't last long enough for us to get any further than a few kisses, but we had all night. When the doors opened again, she resumed control and grabbed me by my belt to pull me out of the elevator behind her.

Her hand was dangerously close to my cock, which was ready and waiting to get its chance to greet her. Poor guy probably missed her more than the rest of me and was anxious to get reacquainted as quickly as possible. I couldn't blame him one bit. We followed the signs on the wall until we reached our room; ironically number 869.

She managed to get the door open with my hands firmly palming her breasts. They were missed by my hands the way my cock had missed points further south—and north, for that matter; he wasn't picky. The door slammed behind me and unlike last time, there was no hesitation on how to get things started. It almost felt like we hadn't been apart for six months.

"Are you clean?" she asked me while I kissed her neck.

"Yes I am. I have a very strict rule about safe sex," I told her, which seemed to bring everything to a screeching halt. "What's wrong?"

"I didn't bring condoms. I wasn't planning on having sex tonight," she admitted with a slight blush. "I'm on the shot, but-"

"Are you clean?" I asked her and she nodded. "Then I don't think we have anything to worry about."

With that out of the way, it was game on.

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><p><strong>Okay, so no lemons this time out but I got a jump today on the next part and that will DEFINITELY be full of stuff to make you pucker up, light up or shower up. Maybe all three, if I do my job right. When you review, don't forget to let me know if you want a love story mixed in, or no strings attached. I'll do my best to go with the vote. Oh, and thanks to Scribeninja for lighting a fire under my butt and doing the beta thang before I posted this. Thanks for reading!<strong>


	3. See No Evil

**Holy fucksticks, baby birds! Y'all are lovin' the hell out of this little story, aren't ya? The response is just mind blowing. I apologize for not responding to most of you, but 100+ reviews is a lot of responding and I figured you'd rather have another chapter than some goofy message from me.**

**Alright, so the general consensus seems to be a love story with a lot of lemony goodness thrown in. As someone said in a review earlier, there's nothing better in the hot summer than a tall glass of lemonade. So we'll see what comes out. This Sookie…I'm having a blast writing her. Totally different from all the other Sookie's I've written. She's got quite a mouth on her, I'll tell you that. Ah well. Oh, and a HUUUUUGE thank you to Scribeninja for beta'ing this for me and catching it when I changed tenses about half way through a part of this. *head desk* I don't know what I'd do without her sometimes.  
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ONE FINAL THING! _**THIS CHAPTER IS NOT SAFE FOR WORK!**_ IF YOU ARE IN AN OFFICE/PROFESSIONAL ENVIRONMENT, SAVE THIS FOR LATER, GOT IT? I won't be sending dom!Eric to punish you because that would encourage your bad behavior instead of correct it, dirty birdies.

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><p><strong>SPOV<strong>

Six months had passed since the last time I was in the Gifford Hotel. Every time I'd walk past it I'd get a secret little chill that ran down my spine, straight to my lady business and I'd think of Him. I didn't have a single regret about what I'd done. He was amazing in bed and I considered myself lucky as fuck to have been where I was when I was there. The night had been almost perfect.

The only real problem was getting Him out of my head afterward. Viking was beyond sexy and had skills the likes of which this born and bred country girl wasn't prepared for. He'd done things to me no one else ever had and I wanted more. Unfortunately, that wasn't part of the deal. It was just one night, end of story. At least, that's the way it was supposed to go down.

After Viking, I went on a few dates and they always seemed to end the same way with me being disappointed their kisses weren't like His. The guys I dated were all perfectly nice, perfectly acceptable boyfriend types. They all had stable jobs; uncomplicated romantic histories and none of them were freakishly attached to their mothers. I kept my eyes peeled and thought I saw Him once when I went to a concert at a small venue in town called Shakespeare's Sister, but the guy moved too quickly for me to be sure it was Him.

I told myself it was just the sex I was missing; that my attraction to Him was purely physical. But when I fantasized about Him—and I had come away from that night with plenty for my own spank bank- that laugh of His always found its way into my mind as well. That wasn't a good sign. Was it possible to fall for someone only because of the way they laughed? I didn't know anything else about Him, other than He was the best fuck of my life.

Really, I owed Him a big thank you because regardless of any unrequited feelings that might be lingering, He'd done me a huge favor that night. The ex cheating on me repeatedly had me thinking maybe I'd lost it; that getting older was starting to take its toll on me. Viking had proven that wasn't at all true. Then again, I couldn't be sure I'd rocked His world as well as He'd rocked mine.

It took a few run-ins with my next door neighbor, who could easily be confused with a Wolfman, in order for the ex to realize I wasn't interested in patching things up. Why the ex thought I would want him back after learning he pretty much considered me to be just another girl in his rotation of sperm receptacles, I have no idea. But he finally got the hint when Tray, quite literally, picked him up by his scrawny neck and tossed him away from my door. The ex never came back after that.

When I'd gone on four perfectly good dates and felt absolutely nothing when I got home, other than disappointment they weren't Viking, my next door neighbor, Amelia, took it upon herself to set me up with someone. Being that she was all married up, she felt it was her responsibility to make sure everyone else was just as happy with their love life as she was. I trusted her not to set me up with an asshat. She knew my tastes and I had been pretty descriptive with her in what I was looking for.

I didn't want a boring, button down nine to five guy. The ex was that kind of guy and unfortunately, he was the bad apple that ruined it for the bunch. It's not to say that every guy who gets dressed in a suit and goes off to his office everyday is boring, but I just wanted something different. So I put my love life in Amelia's hands and told her to find me a winner.

All she would tell me beforehand was that he was tall and he was expecting me to be wearing a red dress. She knew I had a few in my closet so that wasn't a big deal. There was a sense of déjà vu when I walked into the Gifford Hotel promptly at seven the night I was supposed to meet my mystery date. I picked a table set away from the bar and prayed I'd mostly be left alone. I had my back to the bar and I had just barely taken off my coat when the clearing of a throat got my attention.

I was fully prepared to tell whatever stuffed shirt that wasn't my date to take a flying leap. Only I wouldn't be that nice. But then I looked up and kept right on looking up until I found the pair of blue eyes I'd been fantasizing about staring into while I came for the last six months. Holy fucking shit. It was Him and He was in a black suit with a red tie. My head spun, trying to figure out how Pam and Amelia knew about Viking.

But then I hadn't told Amelia about Him. She couldn't possibly have known about Him. But maybe He had said something to Pam. I'd met Pam years ago before Amelia and Tray got married. I never really understood their relationship. I wouldn't say they dated. It was more like they were girlfriends who got a little too friendly sometimes. Pam was definitely a lesbian but Amelia just liked experimenting. I liked Pam. She was snarky, sarcastic and completely unafraid of saying exactly what she was thinking. She didn't give a single fuck what anyone thought of her. It was an admirable trait, in my opinion.

It had never, in a million years, occurred to me that He might be my date. It was then that I remembered Pam mentioning her business partner a few times over the years. She'd said I was His type and just like that, I knew His name. Eric. Son of a bitch! I'd known His name all along and it just hadn't come to me. So it probably was Him I saw at Shakespeare's Sister that one night.

He spoke first and said, "Holy shit! It's you."

"Oh fuck," was my clever—not to mention eloquent- response to his greeting. "Pam said tall. She should have said giant." Giant definitely applied to Him in every sense of the word. I had spent a significant amount of time searching His body last time I saw Him and I was unable to find anything small on Him.

Eric stood there awkwardly for a few seconds before taking a seat after some prompting from me. Not that I didn't like looking up at him, but I'd rather be on my knees in the middle of blowing him if I was going to do it for an extended period of time. Jesus, what was it about him that turned me into this wanton little slut? Oh, right, he was a great fuck and I hadn't had sex in six months. Mystery solved.

Even though I knew his name, I refused to give him mine. It was kind of fun assuming some sort of anonymity, even though we were supposed to be on a date. Not that I wasn't curious about him, because I'd had months to think about it, but there was something kind of fun about the idea of skipping the formalities and getting right down to business. Frankly, I didn't see any way it was possible for the night to end without an orgasm. We'd already fucked—repeatedly- and knew we had amazing chemistry. Why delay the inevitable?

After a brief argument over who was going to pay for the room, I forked over my credit card. He'd paid last time; it only seemed fair I cough up my end. I could tell, however, that he wasn't really okay with it. It was good to know. He'd tried to thrust his card at the front desk clerk but I'd slapped his hand away. The action had gotten me a brush of his pelvis against my back and it was obvious to me, as it would be to anyone else who looked at the crotch of his pants, that he was very excited to see me. The feeling was fucking mutual.

We were barely on the elevator when he had me up against the wall and his tongue in my mouth. I could feel how hard he was and all I could think about was getting him to our room. I'd never fucked someone on the first date but then I'd never fucked a guy whose name I didn't know either. Eric was giving me all these slutty milestone moments and he didn't even know it.

He'd seen my given name on my credit card and started calling me Susannah, a name no one but my Gran ever called me and that was only when I was in big trouble with her. Only when Gran called me Susannah, it never soaked my panties the way it did when Eric said it. Susannah the Slut. It had a nice ring to it.

But before we could get too carried away the elevator doors opened on the eighth floor and I tugged Eric out behind me by his belt. He growled at me which was easily one of the sexiest sounds ever to grace the planet. I towed the giant behind me along like he was my prize poodle until we reached our room. While I fumbled with the key, Eric's hands made themselves at home on my breasts, pinching, squeezing and rolling my nipples over the thin material of my dress.

I got the door open and Eric remained attached to me like a Nordic barnacle. The door slammed shut behind us and it was while Eric was kissing his way down my neck that I remembered I didn't have condoms with me. I hadn't planned on sexing up my date; therefore I'd left my supply of birth control at home. Thankfully, I was on the shot but that was only good for making sure I wasn't birthing any babies before I was ready. While I was sure Eric and I would make some super cute kids, it hardly seemed appropriate to get knocked up when he didn't even know my last name.

Houston, we have a problem, I told myself. I knew I was clean. I'd gotten tested after I slept with Eric just to be on the safe side. We'd used condoms but those fuckers break and I wasn't going to take any chances. Everything had come back clean and being that he had been prepared already with his own stuff, I figured he was probably pretty safe. As far as I knew, guys didn't tend to carry around condoms just for show and then not use them when the time came.

"Are you clean?" I asked him, praying to God he wasn't going to pull away to tell me he'd recently been diagnosed with an STD of some kind.

He didn't even pull away from my neck when he said, "Yes I am. I have a very strict rule about safe sex."

That was certainly all well and good, but since I was sans condoms I was pretty sure that meant it was game over. Either one of us was going to have to make a run or we were actually going to have to do the date thing. I was ready to burst into tears, I really was. So close! So. Fucking. Close.

"What's wrong?" he straightened up when my body went a little stiff.

I turned to face him and said, "I didn't bring condoms. I wasn't planning on having sex tonight." I blushed only a little at my admission. I continued by saying, "I'm on the shot, but-"

"Are you clean?" he cut me off and I nodded. I was definitely clean. "Then I don't think we have anything to worry about."

The hunger in his eyes said it all. It was risk vs. reward time and at the moment; I was all about the reward. Maybe I was a fool for just taking his word for it but really, I didn't think Pam and Amelia would pair me up with a guy they knew was likely to be a dirty. I knew Pam had known him for a long time and I knew they were close. Thankfully the horny little devil living in my brain came and gagged the annoying little voice to take her out back and kick her ass while I got my groove on. Lord knows I needed it.

It was apparent to me I wasn't the only one since Eric wasted almost no time getting his hands under my skirt. I might have been surprised at his eagerness accept he knew me well enough to know I wasn't much for the slow and sweet stuff. It had its place but not in a relationship—assuming that's what this was- that was based on how many orgasms we could have before the sun came up. Slow and sweet was for making love and that wasn't what we were doing.

Eric's fingers took a brief detour into the front of my panties and my hips bucked against his fingers. "You're awfully wet, Susannah," he said against my lips.

"Maybe it's because," I started stroking his cock with one hand while I loosened his tie with the other. "I know what goodies await me and I'm an impatient little girl."

All of a sudden he grabbed my hands and spun me around so I was facing the dresser. "Keep your hands here," he said once he had my palms pressed against the lacquered surface. Fuck. When he put that little bit of bass in his voice it did all sorts of things to me I wasn't prepared for. "Bend forward for me, lover."

"Yessir," I smirked over my shoulder and did as I was told.

My smirk was replaced with a moan of excitement when he grabbed my hair and pulled my head back so he could whisper in my ear, "It is unwise to mock me, Susannah."

"Sorry, Sir," I played along because, why the fuck not?

He pulled my hips a little further away from the dresser and lifted my skirt, leaving my red lace covered ass sticking out and my knees locked. He took off my glasses and set them on the dresser near my hands, but not too close. Then nothing happened for more than a minute and I started to wonder what the hell was going on. I was about to turn my head and ask him what the hold up was when his tie suddenly found its way over my eyes. I said nothing but I was gloating on the inside. He remembered what I'd said to him about blindfolds and being tied up.

I wanted to pinch myself to see if I was dreaming but I wouldn't dare move my hands from where he told me to put them. Although, I was pretty sure I would enjoy whatever punishments he would dole out. Losing my sight, however, forced me to focus my other senses. I listened carefully for where he was in the room. I paid attention to the changes in the air and where his scent was around me.

His fingers ghosted up the side of my leg, going from my knee almost to my hip before his fingers disappeared. It was a series of light touches I got that perked me up and left me wondering where he'd go next. He never touched the same place twice and I could hear him moving around me but the touches always seemed to contradict where I'd placed him in my mind. By the time he tugged my panties down I was all thrown off and had no idea what to expect next, which is exactly what I wanted.

My panties made it as far as my knees before he said, "Spread your legs for me, Susannah."

Hearing him use my name yet again was even better than the pet name he had given me when we first met. Maybe it was because the name sounded so wholesome and dignified, and he was asking me to do something that would lead to acts that completely defied the traits the name suggested. I spread my legs so they were a shoulder width apart which tested the elastic of my panties. The lace suddenly felt rough bunched around my knees. His fingers slid up the inside of my thigh, and then switched to the other side to repeat the easy movement.

"Tell me what you're thinking about right now," he told me.

"Where I want your hand to go," I said without hesitation.

"And where do you want my hand to go, Susannah?" his lips made contact with the back of my thigh, and goose bumps broke out immediately.

There was no time to get shy, and even though I wasn't used to talking dirty out loud, something about being blindfolded made it easier. "My pussy," I moaned when his lips got a little closer to the part I'd just named.

He growled again and said, "Take your right hand off the dresser and show me where you want me to touch you."

My heart was beating faster than I thought possible. When I hesitated to move my hand, there was the beautiful sting of a slap on my ass. I didn't even hear it coming, but it was enough to get my hand moving. I put it between my thighs and I started to touch myself like he wasn't watching, even though I was sure he was. In my mind, anyway, he was watching, and that just made it even sexier.

I'd never pleasured myself in front of anyone before but it was obvious to me almost immediately that my body found it to be an incredible turn on to do it. I started to get lost in the sensations and was so terribly close to climaxing when he said, "Stop."

I whined in protest and got another smack on my other cheek that made my thighs want to rub together. Damn, he was good at this.

"Give me your right hand," he said and I held it out. Seconds later his tongue licked the length of them and then he was sucking them into his mouth. "Sweet Susannah," he purred.

I didn't know if it was an endearment or a description of my taste. Either way, I liked it. When he was finished with my fingers he stood me up straight and put my arms up over my head so he could pull off my dress. I heard him suck in a breath when he revealed a red bra that matched the panties that were still around my knees. I left my arms up because he didn't tell me to put them down and even though I would have enjoyed another smack on the ass, I knew it would only make me want to rip off the blindfold, throw him down on the bed and fuck him.

While this little game we had going was slow torture I could at least take comfort in knowing it wasn't just my pleasure that was being delayed. Much like he'd done with my legs, his fingers traced over my arms, sides, stomach, back and even the top of my breasts before I felt the clasp at my back loosen.

"Put your arms down," he instructed and I did. Slowly he pulled the lace away and I felt the tickle of the straps lightly dragging down my arms until I was free of it. "Get on your knees."

While I was eager to do it, it was certainly easier said than done, given that my knees were slightly bound by my panties and he hadn't told me to take them off. I was careful while getting down on my knees and Eric kindly held my hands so I wouldn't fall on my face. Between the panties and the five inch heels I was wearing, it was a small battle. I was surprised to find a pillow under my knees when I got down on them. He let go of my hands and I put them down at my sides while waiting for further instructions.

The blindfold came off and I gasped to find he was completely naked before me. I hadn't heard him removing his clothing at all, which was impressive considering how closely I had been listening for all of his movements. His large hand slipped into my hair and pulled my head closer to him. He didn't need to give me instruction on what to do next. My hands ran up his legs in a very similar fashion to the way he had teased me and I took my time at his thighs. His hair was blond all over.

While my fingers toyed with the curls on his thighs my tongue darted out to retrieve the little drop of moisture at the end of his extremely hard cock. The contradiction of hard and soft at the same time never ceased to amaze me. My tongue swirled the tip and then my hands moved farther up. One stayed at his balls while the other did its best to wrap around the thick shaft that was throbbing for my attention.

He hissed when I took the head in my mouth and sucked gently. Slowly, my hand started to move and when it did, so did my mouth. Inch by inch I worked him into my mouth, using my hand to stroke what didn't fit. His hand stayed in my hair, mostly holding it out of the way. I looked up at his face only to see that his eyes had rolled into the back of his head.

"Watch me, Viking," I smirked up at him and then licked from the base to the tip of his cock before taking as much as I could in my mouth all at once and sucking hard.

"Fuck," he grunted and his hips bucked a little. I kept it up until he pulled me away gently. "Bed," was all he said.

I got up off my knees and climbed onto the bed, remaining on all fours. I pressed my face against the mattress, effectively presenting myself to him. There was another growl behind me and then his fingers were working their way through the wetness between my thighs. When two of his fingers were coated to his liking, he slipped them inside me. My core clenched around those fingers, happy to take what it could get until he'd calmed down enough to fuck me with his cock instead.

I could feel the dip in the mattress where he was kneeling behind me, just waiting for the right moment to strike. My hips moved in a counter rhythm to his fingers, stirring the pot of tension that had started to gather deep inside me. Just as before, he bided his time until I was right at the edge before changing things up and removing his wonderfully evil fingers.

"Ugh, dammit!" I shouted in frustration.

He chuckled behind me and then switched to the laugh that had been haunting me when I looked back at him with the meanest look I could muster. "Problem, lover?"

"Nope," I said and before he knew what was happening I knocked him over and climbed on top of him. The heat in his eyes was bordering on dangerous and his hands on my hips were a warning when I grabbed his cock and started stroking.

He was just millimeters from the Promise Land and the head of his erection grazed against my folds a few times. I braced a hand on his chest so it would look like I was holding him down when really; we both knew he was holding me up. I was playing with fire and if I wasn't careful, he was going to explode before I got what I wanted. When I felt his cock jerk I knew it was time to back off. I leaned forward and kissed him hard enough that I was sure my lips would be bruised in a very short while because of it.

My hand moved to put him at my entrance while our tongues clashed and battled in their own right. He swallowed my moans when I started to sink down and the grip of his fingers on my hips got a little firmer. He didn't thrust up, which was good because he was large and while his fingers had done their part to prepare me they weren't nearly the size of what I was making room for. When he was all the way in, I pulled my lips from his and sat up.

"Yahtzee!" I said as my head fell back and there was more of that amused laughter from him. The laughter stopped, however, when my hips started moving.

We were both so worked up by that point that hard and fast was the only way to go. The idea of teasing each other seemed to have been completely erased from both our minds and it was lovely to see we were working together toward the same goal: a mind-bending orgasm. My hips tried to get fancy and swivel or rotate once in a while but all it did was throw Eric off his rhythm. I found myself flipped over on my back while he got up on his knees and pulled my thighs up to rest on top of his. The position meant he could grind against me a little with each deep thrust and in no time at all, I was nearly tearing the sheets, I was clutching at them so hard.

"Oh fuck, right there! Fuck! Fuck!" I shouted, my orgasm ready to unleash itself.

"Cum for me, Susannah," he growled as he started to swell inside me and my hand moved in a very shaky way to reach for my clit.

My eyes locked on his, watching him watch me get myself off. It felt like the bottom dropped out from under me, only to launch me into the sky and I exploded like it was the fourth of July. My muscles tightened, squeezed and tried to suck him back in. I was still screaming when he emptied inside me with a roar of his own. Holy fucksticks, it was amazing. He fell forward a little, bracing his weight almost entirely on his arms and continued to stroke inside me while he came down from his high.

"Holy shit, Eric," I whispered, and a second too late, I realized what I'd said.

"Eric?" he quirked an eyebrow at me in that evil way of his, and I didn't know if I should be scared or excited. "How did you know my name is Eric?"

Motherfucker.

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><p><strong>Since they go together, I already have the fourth chapter written. It'll go to Scribeninja, kjwrit and Lubadub tonight. It'll get posted either tomorrow or Saturday, but probably Saturday. We'll see. Don't get used to updates so quickly with this. Lemons take creativity and time to write, especially if I'm writing a scene I'm not all that familiar with. *bes thankful for Lubadub's expertise* I've also gotten a few suggestions for scenes in the future, and I appreciate it! If I use an idea you've supplied in a review, I will be sure to credit you in my AN and let you know in advance that I'll be using it.  
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**Thanks for reading!  
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	4. Dirty Words vs Magic Words

**I don't know why I even bother with the warnings, but again, this is NOT SAFE FOR WORK. Read on at your own risk because dom!Eric is coming out to play a little here. You've been warned ;)**

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><p><strong>EPOV<strong>

Amazing; it was the only word to describe Her.

Her confidence was unusual and extremely sexy. She seemed comfortable in her own skin, which was something I rarely saw. Maybe it was because she was older than most of the women that frequented the bar. Susannah—that name invoked images of a good southern belle or maybe a librarian- had more time to get to know herself and learn how to present the person she was. I liked that she had very little brain to mouth filter. It was Pam-like without being as brutal as my business partner could be.

Everything about her, I decided, was addictive. From the way she kissed to the sway of her hips when she moved, I was hooked. I was kicking myself hard for not being more insistent we cross paths again. I was still baffled as to how I'd ended up with Her as my blind date. Since I hadn't said a word, I could only assume it was Pam knowing me as well as she did that got me where I was. What were the chances Susannah and I would both know Pam, yet I'd never met Her before?

Apparently, the odds were much better than I thought. Maybe I should buy a lottery ticket when we were finished. That, of course, was assuming I could move. I didn't want to hurt Her, but I definitely wasn't opposed to fucking her until I couldn't move. But first, I wanted to toy with her a little. I tried to get her to tell me her name, but she'd hesitated. I got it off her credit card but finding out that wasn't the name she was known by had me intrigued.

When we got up to the room and had to cross the awkward birth control hurdle, a plan started to formulate in my head. I'd gotten tested after the night we met because even though I was careful, shit happens and I tried to take care of myself. Everything came back fine and since she'd said she hadn't had sex since the last time she saw me, I was pretty comfortable with forgoing my usual safety precautions. I said a quick prayer to whoever might be listening that my lust didn't come back to bite me in the ass later on in the form of an STD, or a child.

I wanted kids eventually but now wasn't the time, nor was this the way I really wanted to go about it. There was just a bit of traditionalist mixed in my generally rebellious blood and it demanded I love the mother of my children, if not at least have knowledge of her last name before the little plus sign appeared on the pregnancy test. I didn't know what I wanted more: to get to know her better, or fuck her senseless. It was probably a pretty dead even heat but I knew which I was going to do first.

I remembered what she said before about wanting to be tied up and blindfolded and I figured we'd start with the blindfolding since that took a little less trust than letting someone tie you up. I figured she knew I wasn't going to hurt her if I tied her up but it still seemed like a conversation we should have before I just went ahead and did it. Dominance still seemed to be her secret hot button so I used it to my advantage and told her where to put her hands.

Teasing her was fun, slow torture for both of us but my efforts were well rewarded with the blow job I got afterward. Christ, she made my toes curl. She threatened my self-control in dangerous ways. It was difficult not to skip all the preliminary stuff and get to the finish but I knew it would pay off for me in the long run and I wasn't wrong. Only it seemed my teasing may have pushed her too far, which resulted in me getting a taste of my own medicine.

Watching her take the wheel like she did might have been even sexier than the way her head moved while she was blindfolded and attempting to track my movements. I'd paid close attention to the way she nibbled her lips or gripped the dressed to maintain her balance. It felt good to know I had to power to throw her completely off course because she certainly had that same ability with me. I wasn't at all expecting her to push me back and take what she wanted.

By the time she finished doing that little bit of teasing on her own I was sure I was three thrusts inside her from cumming like some inexperienced teenage boy. She distracted me with kisses that had me wanting her for a whole other set of reasons. I didn't just feel her lust when she kissed me, as I had in the past. No, there was something else there. I didn't know what it was, but I was curious to find out. But then those thoughts were pushed away for later consideration when I felt her easing herself down onto my cock.

When she cried out her unexpected, "Yahtzee," I knew exactly how she felt. Being inside her with nothing between us stirred conflicting feelings in me. It felt absolutely amazing, no question about it. On the other hand, I worried it felt a little _too_ good, not to mention there was still that risk of one of us catching something we did want from the other, whether it was disease or again, a child.

But the swivel and rocking of her hips brought me back into the moment. I didn't want anymore teasing. Enough was enough of that shit. It had its purpose and it had served us well, but it was time to finish it. So when she kept rotating on her slide down, I flipped us over. I knelt between her open thighs and had a great view of my cock sliding in and out of her. I could see the bounce of her breasts in my peripheral vision. Her moans and cries got louder and my brain registered them as noises she made just before she came.

"Oh fuck, right there!" her body seized up a little and her pussy tightened. Yep, she was close. "Fuck! Fuck!"

I wanted her to know it was okay to let go. I wasn't far behind her and the more we practiced, the better we'd get at cumming at the same time. I already knew how fuck awesome that felt and I was anxious to experience it again. "Cum for me, lover," I growled at her when she squeezed particularly hard.

I watched her little hand come down and her fingers start to move expertly over her clit. A few expletives later and I knew she was a goner. She screamed with her orgasm and I felt the gushing of it slowly on my thighs. Fuck, she was so hot and wet. Her orgasm triggered mine and it wasn't really a surprise, but it kind of felt like one, when I suddenly emptied inside her. Fucking amazing.

I fell forward and continued to thrust inside her gently until I was sure it was over and it seemed to take almost a full minute before I knew it was. I didn't cum that hard with anyone else and I wondered why that was. It couldn't be because I had all these deep feelings for her. I was curious, yes. I liked her, of course. Mostly, just the idea of her had me hard as a rock. I didn't get much time to think about because she spoke, and it got my attention.

"Holy shit, Eric," she whispered, and then eyes that had been a cross between delirious and sleepy were suddenly wide.

"Eric?" I quirked my eyebrow at her. How did she know my name? Had she known it this whole time? Did she know it from the moment we met and she'd just played dumb? Had I been set up on purpose and made to think this was all a big coincidence? "How did you know my name is Eric?" I asked her because there were a million possibilities running through my mind.

She looked nervous, almost regretful at her slip up. I wasn't angry that knew and I pulled out of her slowly, not wanting to hurt her or something. She whimpered but quickly got on her knees so we were as face to face as we were going to get.

"I figured it out while we were still in the bar. I've known Pam for a few years now. I just didn't put it together until I saw you tonight," she explained and it made sense.

"How do you know Pam?"

"You know Amelia, right?" she asked me.

I laughed and said, "Of course I know Amelia. She's a hard character to forget."

Pam and Amelia had some strange fuck buddy scenario worked out between them before Amelia got married. It was never love, or anything like that, but they certainly enjoyed one another's company. I also knew there had been an instance after Amelia was married when Pam had been invited over to play. I didn't know if Susannah knew all that, so I kept my mouth shut. Truth be told, _I_ didn't even want to know all that. Pam and I were friends, but the less of her bedroom shenanigans I had to hear about, the better.

"I'm her next door neighbor," Susannah explained with a nervous smile. "I never told her about you. I never told _anyone_ about you. She just knew I was having a shit time with dating so I agreed to let her fix me up. I swear I had no idea it was you she was fixing me up with."

"Susannah, I'm not mad," I gave her a soft smile that made her breathe a sigh of relief.

"Good. I'm sorry; I should have told you I knew. There's just something incredibly hot about things being the way they were," she explained.

"So this wasn't hot enough for you?" I gestured between us.

"Are you fucking kidding me? I'm counting the seconds over here trying to figure out what your rebound rate is," she admitted.

"Don't worry, you'll find out soon," I leaned in and kissed her. "I will, however, have to punish you for your lie of omission."

Her breath caught as the realization of what I was saying fully unfolded itself in her mind. I grabbed onto her wrists and she squirmed to try and get away from me but she wasn't fighting very hard. I don't know why she brought out the urge to control like she did but since it seemed to be working for both of us; I didn't ask too many questions. I just went with what felt right. And what felt right just then was pulling her over my knees so her beautifully rounded ass was sticking up just a little. I captured her hands behind her back and held them with one of my own. She was so wet from fucking just a few minutes before and I knew watching her writhe from being spanked would have me hard again in minutes.

I didn't want to hurt her. I knew there was a more hardcore lifestyle out there and I hoped that wasn't what she was into because I wasn't into whips, floggers and caning. I had no interest in marking her skin. I didn't need to see welts and bruises to get turned on and all of a sudden, I had to let her go. I sat there, slightly stumped, all of my steam let out at once.

"What are you waiting for?" she looked over her shoulder, obviously eager to get on with her punishment.

"Are you into the hardcore stuff?" I asked her.

"No," she shook her head. "I don't expect you to beat me, Eric."

Hearing her use my name reignited a little something in me. "What do you want, Susannah?" My hand started to run over her warm, smooth flesh.

She moaned quietly and said, "I want you to be rough with me. I want you to slap my ass when you feel like it because it makes me feel good," she admitted. I could do that. "I want you to punish me for being a bad girl and lying to you. I trust you to be fair, Sir."

I felt better, knowing she was on board with what I was doing. She wanted it and I wanted her to have it. Still, I didn't strike her right away. I let my fingers trail her skin and even tease her glistening lips peeking out from between her thighs. When I was ready, I grabbed her hands again. I felt her take a deep breath, bracing herself for the hit she knew was coming but didn't know when. Her slight movements in my lap tempted me and just when she'd rested her face on the mattress, that's when I struck.

The slap landed with a small cracking sound that made her tense and moan quietly. I watched her skin turn just a little pink and switched to the other cheek. She moved in my lap and looked over her shoulder at me just as the second slap landed on her ass. "Like that, lover?"

She moaned and said, "Yes, Sir."

My hand moved between her legs and then between her wet folds. My fingers brushed her clit and she moaned again, pushing her ass up a little higher to give me better access. My finger teased her entrance briefly but then my hand moved and another smack landed on her pinking skin. I continued on, alternating between spanking her and teasing her nearly to orgasm without letting her cum, until her ass was just slightly red and she was starting to struggle against the grip I had on her. Then I let go of her hands and turned her onto her back. Her eyes were glassy but I couldn't stare at them for long on account of her legs falling open.

"Fuck me," she grabbed my cock and gently pulled me closer.

Just so she would know I only got limited satisfaction from causing her any sort of pain, I lifted her legs and pushed them up toward her chest so she was practically folded in half. She raised an eyebrow at me and I made sure I looked into her eyes as I lowered myself until I couldn't see her eyes anymore. I pressed a kiss to each of her round, red cheeks which made her giggle. When I straightened up she was smiling at me, her pearly white teeth sparkling in the soft light of the room.

"What was that for?" she tilted her head to the side to see me around her legs, which she had crossed at her ankles as I started to bring them down again.

"You're all red," I shrugged and she cooed at me like she would a child who fell and bumped their head, which made me narrow my eyes at her.

"That's sweet; Eric, but you didn't hurt me. I promise if I'm ever really hurt, you'll know it."

"I don't plan on getting so rough we need a safe word," I smirked at her.

"Me either, now will you please fuck me?" she stuck her bottom lip out at me and I was powerless to turn her down.

Knowing the spanking really did nothing but turn her on calmed me down a little. If I was completely honest, it was hot to watch her writhe and moan from the combination of pleasure and pain. I positioned one of her legs so it was resting on the mattress and I straddled it before putting her other leg up on my shoulder. I slid inside her easily and the way her eyes got wide told me she was enjoying the position I had her in.

I moved easily and knew I wasn't going to last long. My thumb made fast circles on her clit and I found myself simultaneously curious to see how quickly I could get her off and how many positions we could use in a single night. I found out how quickly I could get her off when she came fast and hard and with essentially no warning. Either that or I had been too far gone in my thoughts to notice the warning signs.

"Oh God, don't stop!" she moaned even though she'd just cum.

Unable to help myself, I pulled out just long enough to lie down behind her. I kept her legs in the same position, however, and entered her again from behind. Her head flopped back against the mattress and her face turned toward mine to kiss me. She held her own leg up and my hand went to her breast to roll her nipples between my index finger and thumb. I swallowed her moans while we kissed and when I felt her getting close again, my hand moved down to her clit and my thrusts got faster.

"Yes! Yes! Harder, Eric!" she cried out.

Hearing her shout my name like that proved to be my undoing and without intended to, I released inside her again. She followed right after me, clawing at my thigh while her core squeezed around me. I pulled out of her again and her leg slowly fell to meet its mate on the bed. We both just lay there quietly, trying to catch our breath and calm our hearts. I got up first and went to the bathroom to get a washcloth to clean her up with a little.

I came back to find her on her stomach, looking over the room service menu. She must have read my mind because I was definitely hungry. I moved her legs gently and she squirmed when the washcloth made contact with her center. She smiled over her shoulder at me for just a moment before asking, "Would you hand me my glasses?"

Fuck. I forgot about the glasses. Her wearing nothing but glasses was really going to make it difficult to see if I could beat my previous time in how quickly I could get her off. All the same, I climbed off the bed and got her glasses for her. She slipped them on and went back to studying the menu. I took the washcloth to the bathroom and did a little cleaning up of my own before returning to the bed.

I kissed her shoulder as I stretched out beside her and leaned over to see the menu she was holding. "I can't decide what I want," she moved the menu toward me.

I looked at the menu and there had to be at least a dozen things on it that looked appealing. I was definitely the type that got hungry after sex and the only thing that had prevented me from ordering it the last time was sheer exhaustion. After a little debating we ended up ordering more food than either of us would probably be able to eat. I put my boxers back on while Susannah took one of the robes from the bathroom. Her walking around the room naked would have been way too tempting so I was glad she covered up temporarily.

"So, are you going to tell me your name now that you know mine?" I asked her while she flipped through the channels on TV.

She turned toward me and shrugged. "I kind of like knowing you don't know what everyone else calls me."

"Why is that?" I was a little frustrated with her and started to feel a little used. _When, exactly, did I become a woman?_, I wondered while I waited for her answer.

"Because you're not like everyone else," she said with a smile that calmed the beast that was ready to rage inside me.

We were quiet for a few minutes while she kept searching the channels for something to watch. I couldn't help staring at her and wondering how it was possible we hadn't seen one another once in the six months we were apart. Obviously she lived in town and while the city could be big, it wasn't _that_ big, or we wouldn't have been set up by friends like we were. I had been keeping an eye out for her and hadn't seen her once.

Out of nowhere she asked, "What made you want to name your business after a Smiths song?"

I was completely dumbfounded by her question since most people didn't get the reference right off the bat like that. She listened to The Smiths? She didn't strike me as the type but it was rarely wise to judge someone's taste in music based on their appearance. I mentally stumbled before finding my answer, "I love the band and when we were opening the bar, it just sort of made sense."

"It's a good song," she nodded. "It's not my favorite, but it's good."

"And your favorite would be?" I asked, for some reason expecting her to say 'Girlfriend in a Coma' or 'How Soon is Now?' since those were the most easily recognized songs.

"That's a tough question," she nibbled her bottom lip and pushed her glasses up a little in a way that was far more sexy than it should have been. "I guess I'd said my favorite, lyrically, is 'That Joke Isn't Funny Anymore,' but it's by a slim margin. 'Vicar in a Tutu' just makes me laugh for obvious reasons. "

Sweet Jesus. She actually knew what the fuck she was talking about. I was used to girls at the bar looking around curiously, wondering when the Top 40 tunes were going to start playing. Everything in the jukebox at the bar was recorded prior to the year 2000, and most of the music was from the late seventies to the mid-nineties. I hated radio and never listened to it anymore. There wasn't much need for it with all of the music available on the internet and then the bands that came through Shakespeare's Sister week after week.

"Don't look so surprised, Eric," Susannah smiled at me and pulled her knees up to her chest, giving me a good view of her long, tan legs when the robe parted to make room for them. "I don't suppose you have your iPod with you, do you?"

"iPhone in my pants. Why?" I asked her.

She simply grinned, hopped off the bed and retrieved my phone from the pocket where I'd left it. "Unlock it for me?"

"Magic word?" I smirked at her.

"Blowjob?" she suggested which made me laugh.

"Creative, but not what I was looking for…yet, anyway." I stared up at her.

She pulled the robe open and let it drop to the floor. Totally unfair play. She bent over the table a little, looked right at me and said, "Master."

Fuck.

"You're a good southern girl, aren't you? Surely your mama taught you manners," I leaned back in my chair. Darkness passed over her eyes for just a fraction of a second before she answered.

"Actually, it was my Gran, and yes, she did," she slid into my lap so her back was to my chest and started to rub her ass against my crotch. "Please," she almost whimpered and for a few seconds I completely forgot what she wanted in the first place.

I unlocked the phone for her when my brain cleared and handed it over. She went straight to the iPod application and waited for it to load. I watched as she scrolled through what was there and it was almost like watching her read my journal, if I kept one. All of a sudden she was laughing hysterically and hugging my phone to her bare chest. Lucky bastard phone.

"What's so funny?" I asked her when she calmed down a little.

"I never would have pegged you for a Cher fan," she turned in my lap a little. My smile faded, which seemed to sober her even more.

"There's a reason for that," he smiled at me.

"If you're going to tell me you're gay, I think you should know that is a crime against women," she said with a smirk.

"No, I'm definitely not gay. There's nothing wrong with it, but men just don't do it for me," I said, not that she should really needed the reassurance. I cleared my throat and explained, "My mother was a big fan of Cher. She died last year."

Her expression clearly conveyed that she felt like an ass and said, "I'm sorry, Eric."

"It's okay. I mean, it's not really okay, but you know what I mean, right?" I asked before wrapping an arm around her bare waist.

"I know," she nodded and said, "My own parents died when I was young, so I get it."

"I'm sorry," I said sincerely. "That must have been hard."

"It would have been worse if I didn't have my Gran, but I wonder about them a lot. I was too young to really get to know them and by the time I was in high school, I couldn't really remember them clearly."

"How did you lose them?"

"Well, my father was a Marine and died during Desert Storm. My mother was killed in a car accident a few years later. Some jag off ran a red light and t-boned her when she was on her way to pick my brother and me up from school," she recalled rather void way.

"That's rough. I'm sorry," I said a second time.

She shrugged and said, "It could have been worse, right? At least I had my brother and the two of us being left against the world made us a lot closer than we probably would have been otherwise."

"That's an awfully well adjusted way to look at it," I gave a faint smile.

"I can't change it. I could spend the rest of my life being angry at the people responsible for killing my parents, but what good would that do me? Ultimately, I figure it was part of God's master plan and who am I to question that?"

I felt a bit angry at her mention of a master plan and said, "Yeah, well, you might feel a little differently if you had to watch your mother die slowly from a cancer that ate away at her until she was a shell of the woman you knew your whole life."

I didn't mean to snap at her but talking about my mother was hard for me. Watching her go through the illness, and the way it ate at her little by little left me feeling bitter and questioning whether or not God was as merciful as religion wanted us to believe He was.

Thankfully there was a knock on the door and then a faint call from the room service delivery person. Susannah kissed my cheek before getting off my lap and slipping on her robe. I walked to the door just as I was and signed for the food. If it was out of sorts for a man to answer the door in his boxers with a case of sex hair, the bellman didn't show it in his expression. I wheeled the cart into the room and tried to figure out how we were going to eat everything Susannah had ended up ordering.

"Where's the cake?" she asked, coming over to the cart to start lifting the lids on the various plates.

"You'll spoil your dinner," I smirked at her and she lifted her eyes to mine.

"Always start a meal with dessert; it's the best part," she said and then bounced when she found the enormous piece of chocolate cake she'd ordered.

I marveled at her and watched as she grabbed a fork and made herself comfortable on the end of the bed. She sat with her legs folded Indian style and the large plate balanced in one of her small hands. She cut off a large piece of cake and carefully aimed the fork at her mouth. The second she tasted the cake, she was moaning. Her eyes closed while she savored the taste and her head rolled back as if there was nothing in the world more pleasurable than a good piece of cake.

I tried to concentrate on the burger I ordered but the moaning started to get the better of me. Was there nothing she did that wasn't sexy? Eventually I couldn't take it anymore and ended up crossing the room to where she was sitting. I dipped my finger into the frosting on top of the cake but rather than licking my own finger, I smeared the decadent chocolate on her breast.

"What are you doing?" she asked when I took the plate from her hand. "I was eating that."

"I heard," I set the plate down and then lowered my head to lick away the frosting. She moaned quietly and I heard the clang and clatter of the fork against the plate.

When I lifted my head she asked, "Want more?" I nodded and watched her smear more of the frosting in strategic places and one in particular that made my eyes glaze over. "I guess you get to have my cake and eat it, too."

She stretched forward to lick the frosting from my lips and then lay still while I went to work cleaning up the mess she'd made. It really was the best chocolate cake I'd ever had.

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><p><strong>Okay, so this bit with the cake is a last minute add-in for Seamstress's birthday today so I hope she enjoyed it. Next chapter Eric will find out Sookie's name because this Susannah stuff is throwing me off like WHOA. We'll save that name for when she's naughty. The sweet and spicy balance we have going here is fun to write but I'm open to suggestions if anyone has ideas for scenes. Brain can only write so many lemons before it hits a wall. Thanks for reading!<strong>


	5. Wake Up

**Just in case I haven't stressed this point enough yet, this story is NOT SAFE FOR WORK. This chapter is no exception. You've been warned.**

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><p><strong>SPOV<strong>

I woke up the next morning feeling sticky, a little sore and beyond sated. Thank God I'd remembered to set the alarm before passing out or we would have missed checkout time. I didn't want to get out of bed and seriously considered extending my stay for another night just so I could stay right where I was for a few more hours. But then I remembered I had things to do and couldn't really spend the day lounging in bed like I wanted to.

"Where are you going?" Eric's grip tightened on me when I tried to get away from him.

"I have to pee and then shower before we go. I'm all sticky," I rubbed my eyes and remembered the reason I was sticky in the first place. During the last round I'd told him to finish _on_ me instead of _in_ me, and he'd done as I asked. The problem was I had been too tired to move very much, never mind getting up to clean myself off. So yeah, I was a mess, but a thoroughly fucked one.

"Ten more minutes," Eric mumbled.

"Sorry, Champ, I have to get up unless you're into golden showers," I said and wiggled out from under his arm.

"Hell no," he muttered, which I was thankful for.

"Good because that's just gross," I sashayed my way to the bathroom and closed the door behind me.

A single look in the mirror had me cringing. I was a little splotchy from all the different places Eric decided to mark me the night before. He realized, after we finished eating, that he hadn't paid proper attention to my girls and spent about a half an hour worshiping them in their entirety before moving on. Thankfully my hair would cover my neck and covering my chest wouldn't be too hard. I started the shower and then quickly sat down to pee. What was it about running water that angered a full bladder anyway?

I was soaping up a few minutes later when the shower curtain was pulled back and Eric appeared. "Room for one more?" he asked with a smirk.

"Sure," I shrugged and watched him step into the tub.

There was just barely room for the two of us in there which made getting around each other interesting. I wasn't used to sharing my shower with someone else and if I had known that was what would end up happening, I would have sprung for a room with a bigger bathroom. I traded places with Eric so I could lather up my hair while he got his wet. It was entertaining to watch him bend and move to get his head under the shower head.

"Having trouble there, Stretch?" I smirked while massaging my scalp.

"My shower at home is much better," he smiled at me. "I live in that new building over on King Louis Court."

Fancy. The apartment building he was referring to had opened just three years before and pretty much every space had been custom designed by the inhabitants. I had only ever made it as far as the lobby since there was no way I could afford to live in a place like that. My apartment building was nice enough, but not nearly as fancy as the one Eric lived in. There was a Starbucks in the lobby, for fuck's sake! I got my coffee at a little shop a few blocks away called Ruby's Brew since it was across the street from the store I co-owned with three other people.

"Very nice," I smiled up at him.

"Where do you live?" he asked me.

I chuckled and said, "You won't believe it."

"Oh? Why wouldn't I?" he quirked one of those eyebrows again.

"Because we live about two blocks away from each other," I shook my head, hardly able to believe it myself. My place is on the corner of Devereaux and LaMonde."

Eric nodded like he knew where that was and he probably did. Hell, we'd probably passed each other a thousand times without ever knowing it. Of course this kick started my inner philosopher and I started thinking about why it was now we were meeting. I wasn't sure how I felt about fate and destiny. I tended to think it was more about the choices we made that led us to wherever we ended up, but what if it was all predetermined and we just _thought_ we had a choice?

Those were thoughts far too heavy to really contemplate without having my first cup of coffee. The only thing I should have had room in my brain to consider was whether or not I was going to take advantage of the gorgeous, naked man in need of a soap up that was standing right in front of me. Without much hesitation I grabbed the bar of hotel soap from its niche, lathered up my hands and started rubbing on him. He smirked with his eyes closed and didn't try to dissuade me from continuing my course up his thighs.

If I couldn't have a hot cup of coffee to wake me up, I'd happily settle for an orgasm. I stroked him under the guise of making sure he was thoroughly clean and I was prepared to put a spit shine on him if necessary. He got it into his head to do a little washing of his own to make sure I was just as clean but of course, that just led to more mess and before I knew it, I was up against the cool marble wall of the shower with my legs wrapped around his waist and his hands firmly grasping my backside for support.

Our lips met easily and the clash of tongues and teeth wasn't as brutal as it had been the night before. He adjusted the shower head so it was spraying more in our direction which I was thankful for since the marble was a little too cold for my liking, but the contrast with the warm water was nice. He lifted me a little higher up the wall and positioned himself at my entrance before sliding me down again.

He fit inside me like he belonged there and after kissing our way through that necessary few seconds of adjustment time, his hips started to move against mine. I had to give him credit for stamina and endurance because I wasn't really all that light—at least I didn't think I was- and holding me up against the wall had to be killing his arms. My hips moved to meet his thrusts and it didn't take long for either of us to find one more release. I finished before him, thanks to the dirty work his thumb had done and he pulled out before he finished, leaving me to stroke him to completion.

"I should wake up like this every morning," I smirked at him and reached for the conditioner.

"It wasn't quite what I'd envisioned, to be honest," Eric told me while lathering up his hair.

"Oh really?" we traded places so I could rinse my hair out.

"Really," he said but didn't seem to want to divulge any further information.

"Care to share with the rest of the class?"

"Nope; I'll just save it for another time," he smiled at me.

"Who says there's going to be another time?"

He swooped in and kissed me but pulled away before I could really get into it. "There'll be another time," he said with confidence.

Yeah, he was probably right. In fact, I wondered what he schedule was looking like for just about every night of the week. I'd be crazy not to. The sex alone made it worth hanging out with him but it wasn't just that. We had things in common. While scrolling through his iPod I learned we had a similar taste in music and we liked a lot of the same movies. Eric had been raised by a single mother (his father was never in the picture) and I had been raised by my Gran after my parents died when I was a little girl. We both loved the color red and preferred walking to our destinations instead of driving if it was possible.

By the time we were dried off, dressed and ready to leave the room there was only ten minutes to spare before I had to be checked out of the room. We walked to the elevators together with his hand on the small of my back. He offered to pay for his half of the room service charge but I wouldn't let him. "Put it on my tab for next time," I winked at him as we arrived at the front desk.

**o.O.o.O.o**

Tired as I was, I had to go to work later that afternoon. Eric and I agreed to meet for coffee on Monday afternoon since I was unavailable the next day. I always went home to Bon Temps on Sundays for supper with my Gran. She was getting on in years and even though my brother was still living in our hometown he was about as reliable as a TV antenna in an electrical storm. He had his own priorities, as did I, but with Jason it was different. His motivations in life were purely selfish and because of that, there was friction between us.

Eric walked with me to my apartment and kissed me goodbye before going on his way. I debated for a minute before calling him back for just a second. He turned to look at me with an expression I couldn't read but that didn't stop me from saying what I needed to say right at that moment.

"Sookie. Everyone calls me Sookie," I told him, figuring he'd earned that piece of information.

He smiled at me and said, "I like it. It suits you. I never would have guessed."

"Most people wouldn't. See you Monday?" I asked and he nodded his response.

I forced myself to go inside instead of watching him walk away. I didn't know what to make of him but I knew I liked him. He had a good sense of humor and seemed to enjoy it when I'd say something that threw him off his game. I liked that he could be a total boss one minute and the next he was sweet as pie and concerned for my feelings. I got the impression he wasn't entirely comfortable with roughing me up in bed but he'd gotten over it by the time we passed out.

I don't know what it was about him that made me want to submit, but I did. I wasn't usually so turned on by being ordered around or talked dirty to, but then again, the ex never really gave it a try. Maybe it was because when Eric did it, he did it with confidence and authority. While I had definitely felt those slaps on my ass the night before, he never did it too hard and it was obvious he wasn't turned on by the idea of abusing me. I tried to reason with myself why the idea of even just a little pain felt so good and I figured it was because the pleasure that came afterward felt that much sweeter.

I had to wonder just how open he was to things sexually, because I was pretty sure I could have a damn good time with him if he was up for trying some new things. Ideas were swirling around in my head and I started to make a mental list of the things I wanted to discuss with him the next time we met. I was torn when it came to how I felt about everything outside of the sexual relationship we had. The sex was great, which was a huge plus. I liked him, obviously, or I couldn't have slept with him in the first place. From the very beginning, there was something about him I was drawn to and I had been relieved to find it wasn't a result of too many martinis the first time around.

When I got up to my apartment I collapsed on my couch for a while. My eyes closed and visions of the night before started to replay themselves in my mind. Would I be insane for not wanting to be more than just a fuck buddy where he was concerned? I lay there thinking about Eric and the night before until my thighs started to squeeze together and that's when I cut myself off. There was no time for that and I had things to do before work.

I started by going back to my bedroom and discarding my dress. It smelled faintly of Eric, but mostly like the hotel room since it had spent the better part of the night on the floor. I dropped my lingerie in the hamper as well and considered taking another shower before deciding that would be a waste of time. I got dressed in an off-white knit tunic with short sleeves and a pair of comfy flared jeans. I was searching for my red satin slippers when there was a knock at my door, followed by Amelia peeking her head into my apartment.

"Sook, you here?" she called out.

"Yep, back here!" I called in response and bent to dig the slippers out of the back of my closet.

"I tried coming by earlier but you didn't answer. How'd last night go?" Amelia asked while leaning in my doorway.

"Well, I wasn't home when you came by, so what does that tell you?" I smiled at her while stepping into my shoes.

"You slept with him?" Amelia's jaw dropped. "You little tramp! How was it? Was it amazing? Is he as big everywhere as I think he is? Oh! Is he a good kisser? You have to tell me everything."

Amelia was five years older than me but had this childlike quality to her. When she got super excited about something you'd think she was living on a meth and Red Bull diet. She had this way of rapid firing questions and bouncing around the room that required she be reigned back in. I had learned, however, it was best to let her get all the questions out at once before trying to corral her or I'd be wasting my breath.

"Well, last night wasn't the first time I met him," I confessed to her.

"What? When did you meet him? You told me you'd never met Eric before!" Amelia was clearly confused and excited at the same time.

"I didn't know it was him when I met him," I told her, which only served to further confuse her.

I went back to the beginning and explain how I'd met him just after the ex and I parted company. She listened with wide eyes and a rather lusty grin on her face while I went over the details of our first encounter together. She was clearly shocked at my behavior but I was expecting as much. I'd known Amelia for a long time and that night with Eric was completely out of character for me.

"So what happened when you saw him last night?" Amelia was reserving judgment until I told her the whole story but I knew she was going to have something to say about it all. Amelia _always_ had something to say.

"I was shocked when I saw him last night. At first I thought maybe it was just a coincidence but he was wearing what you told me he would be wearing and it was obvious he was just as surprised to see me sitting there. I wasn't disappointed though."

Amelia clapped her hands excitedly and followed me to the bathroom. "So did you two actually go on a date or did you just get a room?"

"We got a room," I admitted with a shrug and tried to will away the blush that was threatening to color me.

"Fuck yes you got a room! Then what?" she watched while I brushed out my hair.

"We fucked," I said casually.

"That's it? Bitch, I know you didn't spend the whole night in that room fucking." She was going ghetto on me, which meant she knew I was trying to blow her off. Amelia knew me way too fucking well.

"Well we talked, of course. I figured out who he was before we went upstairs and I called him by his name on accident," I admitted with a fond smile at the memory of his face when he realized what I'd said.

"Oh shit! What'd he say to that?"

"Something about me being a naughty girl who needed to be punished," I reached for my makeup bag and I thought Amelia was going to hit the floor by the look on her face. "What?"

"You kinky little freak," she shook her head. "It's always the quiet ones!"

"Shut up!" I slapped at her.

"Oooh is that what he did?" she teased. "I just can't wrap my head around it. You so don't strike me as the kink type."

I laughed and said, "Oh believe me, I'm not. There's just something about him that…I don't know, he brings out this whole other side of me I didn't even know was there."

"So what punishment did the naughty girl get?" Amelia was dangerously close to salivating.

"That's none of your business," I couldn't help blushing then which made her bust out laughing.

When she calmed down she asked, "Are you going to see him again? Do you guys like each other? Is this just a friends with benefits kind of thing?"

I started to brush on mascara while I explained the agreement, of sorts, Eric and I had come to. "Well, I can't really say we're taking it slow since we've had more orgasms than dates but I wouldn't say we're just friends either. I don't know," I shrugged and switched to the other eye. "I guess we're just seeing where it goes. We have things in common, other than enjoying fucking each other stupid. He works a lot and I like him well enough; I'm just not sure he's relationship guy."

"What makes you say that?" Amelia arched a curious eyebrow my way.

"Well, if he wanted to be in a relationship with me why not just say so? Why go the friends with benefits route? It doesn't make sense," I said as I went for my eye shadow.

"Do you _want_ to be in a relationship with him?" Amelia asked.

"Honestly? I don't know. It is what it is and it's too soon to go around calling him my boyfriend even if I _do_ want to be in a relationship with him that isn't just about sex."

"True," Amelia agreed. "So when are you seeing him again?"

"We're meeting for coffee on Monday afternoon."

"Coffee? You two have fucked how many times and you're meeting for coffee?" she asked incredulously.

"We need to meet on neutral territory. If we're somewhere private we won't have a conversation that doesn't happen during foreplay or his rebound time, and trust me, he doesn't take long to recover. Teenage boys would be jealous of this guy. Hell, _pornstars_ could probably take a lesson from him," I looked at Amelia's reflection.

"You lucky bitch," she shook her head slowly.

"Oh come on! Like Tray's bad in bed?"

"Tray is amazing in bed but that's not the point and you know it."

"Eric's great, there's no denying that. He's smart, funny, extremely good looking and easily the best sex I've ever had…"

"So then what's the problem?" Amelia narrowed her eyes at me. When I didn't answer she said, "You know they aren't all like that cheating douchebag, right? I've known Eric for a few years now and I've known Pam even longer than that. Eric may not commit very often but when he does, it's pretty much for life. Don't take that for granted if he offers it to you, Sook. I can guarantee you'll kick yourself for the rest of your life if you do."

I didn't want to admit it but she was probably right about that. While it was true he hadn't come right out and said he wanted to be more than just a fuck buddy, he had been in the hotel the night we met because he was meeting someone he cared very deeply for. It turned out to all be a big lie but that was somewhat beside the point. The important thing was, he was ready to commit to someone. I added relationship status to the list of things we needed to talk about the next time we saw each other.

But first, I had to decide for myself what I wanted.

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><p><strong>I'm trying to find the right balance here for these two. I said I would leave this up to the readers to decide what kind of relationship they have, and while it seems there are definitely a lot of romantics out there, there are also quite a few who are perfectly content to see them stay in this FWB free-fall they're in at the moment. We'll see them get to know each other a little better in the coming chapters but I'm still on the fence about where to take their relationship. I guess we'll just have to wait and see what comes out when I write. And again, since I had no plans beyond the first chapter, suggestions are welcome. Thanks for reading!<strong>


	6. One Rainy Afternoon

**I can hear it now...everyone wants to know where Pam is. I know, I know, I promise we'll get to her soon enough. In the meantime, I hope you'll enjoy this chapter in which they get to know one another a little better. Oh, and of course, the lemons.**

**I've said it before, but I'll say it again: THIS IS NOT SAFE FOR WORK!**

* * *

><p><strong>EPOV<strong>

It took forfuckever for Monday afternoon to arrive. Sunday felt like some compromise between torture and Christmas Eve when I was five and waiting to see if Santa brought me the video game machine I wanted. I had no doubt; however, Sookie would entertain me far better than Sega ever did. I wasn't really sure what to call our meeting at the coffee house. It wasn't really a date but it was something other than just hanging out. It was almost like an interview, I figured.

All the same, I decided it was time to go dressed more like myself and that meant the suit stayed home. I left my house in a pair of jeans I'd been wearing for probably close to ten years and a t-shirt that said, "Goonies never say die." Of course, my Chucks were present and accounted for. Pam would have been horrified but then I never saw her wearing anything but designer shoes that cost more for one pair than I paid a in a month for rent. I didn't get it just like she didn't get me. Oh well.

The sky was a little dark and threatening a nasty thunderstorm but I walked anyway. I liked the fresh air and didn't mind the exercise. For being a bigger city, I lived somewhere I could easily walk around if I wanted to. I walked up to Ruby's Brew to find Sookie—I really did like that name- already inside placing her order. I walked up behind her and pushed her hand out of the way when she went to pay for her coffee.

"What are you doing?" she asked over her shoulder.

"I got it," I said but she slapped my hand out of the way.

"I can pay for my own coffee, Eric," she was probably rolling her pretty blue eyes but I couldn't see it.

"I know you can but I want to," I argued with her and got a laugh from the redhead behind the counter by the name of Arlene. I'd been into Ruby's Brew often enough that she knew who I was.

"That's real cute of you, Eric, but you're wasting your breath on this one," Arlene said with a jerk of her head in Sookie's direction.

"Is that so?" I was amused at the nod I got from Arlene.

"You think you're the first guy who tried to pay for her coffee?" she arched an eyebrow and I noticed Sookie was simultaneously grinning and blushing just a little.

"Well in that case maybe I should let you pay for mine," I suggested to Sookie.

"What can I get you, Eric?" Arlene asked, breaking into what could have been some pretty excellent banter.

"Cinnamon chai latte," I told her.

"Not a coffee drinker?" Sookie asked me and I shrugged.

"I can take it or leave it. I'm not in the mood today."

"So what _are_ you in the mood for today?" her eyes dared me to say exactly what I was thinking but since I noticed Arlene's rugrats were nearby, I decided to filter my dirty mouth a little.

"Chocolate cake," I said and watched the way her eyes sparkled and the flush in her face deepened a little.

"Careful, Eric, too many sweets aren't good for you," she warned and handed her credit card over to Arlene while simultaneously running her hand up my thigh. Minx.

Before I could get out a proper comeback, Arlene handed Sookie her enormous, steaming cup of whatever it was she was drinking and a small plate with a cinnamon scone on it. Sookie winked at me before departing for a table somewhere in the back, away from the general public's prying eyes. I added a mini apple tart to my order and paid Arlene for the food. I found Sookie sipping on her drink. The cardigan she'd been wearing was hanging off the back of her chair and I was relieved to see she was dressed about as casually as I was.

Her hair was piled up on her head and it appeared as if she wasn't wearing any makeup whatsoever, not that she needed it; her tan skin as enough, in my opinion. Her glasses were perched on her nose and fingernails that had been bright red two days before were now this deep bluish-purple color. She was wearing flared jeans, a t-shirt that said "Property of Rydell High," and when I looked under the table I saw she was wearing Chucks as well.

Fuck me. I think I started to fall in love with her right there. She was amazing in bed, knew who the Smiths were and she seemed to prefer my own chosen brand of footwear, based on how well-worn hers were. How the fuck had it taken so long for me to find her?

"Are you going to sit?" she asked with a quirk of her eyebrow.

That was the second time she had to tell me to sit down. I didn't know what happened to me when I got near her but for some reason; my brain always seemed to short circuit. It was a little ridiculous, to be honest, how easily I could get distracted by her. It didn't help that she started moaning when she bit into her scone.

"What?" she asked when my eyes glazed over.

"Those sounds you make," I shook my head.

"I'm just eating," she shrugged. Right, it was my problem, not hers. But it was about to be her problem because I was considering dragging her into the bathroom and fucking her up against a wall.

"You drive me crazy," I admitted to her. "I've been thinking about you non-stop for the last two days."

My confession seemed to jar her a little and I wondered if I'd gone too far. I didn't know what we were doing but I was starting to think if I didn't shut the fuck up, I was going to ruin my chances of ever seeing her again. It was one thing to think about her obsessively but it was another to outright tell her I was doing it.

"I've been thinking about you too," she said in a less obsessive way than I had.

"And?" Way to tone it down, asshole.

She took a drink of her coffee and cleared her throat. "Well, I guess I'm wondering what we should do next. Obviously there's something between us but I don't really know what it is. Is this all just about amazing sex or is there something else here?"

I was relieved to find out I wasn't the only one thinking about it. The fact that she looked a little troubled made me nervous. "What do you think?" I asked her, wanting to test the waters a little.

"I'm in no rush to really define this, Eric. The fucking around is fun and I don't see a reason why I have to slap a label on you right this second. Personally, I think it would be best if we just see how this plays out. I like you, you like me and we're just seeing where it goes."

"So you're okay with being casual?" I asked her and she nodded.

"Look, Eric, I'm not twenty anymore where I need to know I'm the one and only from the minute we met. I'm not that naïve and frankly, I don't know if that's the way I feel about you," she confessed and I'll admit it hurt a little to hear that. "The way I see it is, we have a few things in common outside of being able to get each other off in record time, and that's great and all, but there's got to be something else there for this to work as a real relationship."

"I agree," I said because she had a point. Even so, the idea of anyone else touching her, let alone fucking her, made me rage inside.

"Besides, you'll probably get bored with me anyway," she said out of nowhere and I nearly spilled my latte all over myself.

"What? Why would you think that?" there had to be a story there. She looked troubled and hesitated to explain herself.

"The night we met I was out as sort of a test to myself. I dated the same guy for almost five years and I found out he was cheating on me every time he went on the road for work. Looking back on it now, I should have seen the warning signs something wasn't quite right with him. He was only the second man I ever slept with. I was a virgin until I got into college and the guy I lost my virginity to didn't really care if I got off or not. The whole experience left me pretty down about sex in general," she explained and I wanted to hunt down the guy who I figured had probably taken advantage of her and talked her into thinking sex wasn't that big of a deal.

While it was true sex didn't have to be a big deal, it was the first time you did it. I remembered when we were younger and Pam told me a few of her friends did it just to get it over with. They were always disappointed by the experience and it was usually because they picked a guy who didn't give a fuck. I'd deflowered a few virgins in my time and while it was true I was something of a selfish bastard as a teenager, I quickly learned that unless all I ever wanted was one night stands, I was going to have to make sure the girl got off too if I expected her to come back for seconds. Some guys, it seemed, never learned that lesson.

"Then with the ex, I just…I thought maybe we never got adventurous because he just didn't have it in him. I wanted to try new things and he always scoffed at it. He told me he wouldn't treat his future wife like trash or some common slattern. I didn't even know what the fuck a slattern was when he said it and then when I learned he was fucking hookers behind my back, it all started to make sense. I figured because I didn't really push to try new things he got bored with me. I started thinking maybe he was bored because I was getting older and-" she didn't get to finish because I had to cut her off.

"Your ex is a fucktard." I told her with authority. He was; he really was. "Sookie, I know there's a lot I don't know about you. I'm sure you have some bad habits tucked away somewhere; we all do, but I also know you are anything but boring."

"Anyway, I guess I just don't want you to expect too much from me," she said a little sullenly.

"All I expect from you is honesty, Sookie. I don't like liars," I told her and she nodded.

"Me either."

I was glad we agreed about that. We finished our coffee and pastries while discussing lighter topics. I learned that her favorite movie was _Gone With the Wind_ and she despised the current fad of remaking movies right and left that seemed to have gripped Hollywood. She outright threatened to remove the balls of anyone-with a grapefruit spoon- who tried to go after her favorite film and I had no reason to think she was exaggerating. We talked about our favorite foods and where we'd grown up.

Unlike her, I wasn't originally from Louisiana. I was born in California and had lived there until I was seven. My mother had remarried for a very short period of time but her husband couldn't hold a job for very long. When drinking and sleeping around became a bigger priority to him than being a good husband, Mom threw him out and filed for divorce. Their marriage didn't even last two years before it was over. We'd settled in Texas around the time I was starting junior high and that was when I met Pam.

Her father was a politician in the heart of the very conservative Lonestar State and her mother was a southern society wife. Her parents were scandalized to find out their only daughter was a lesbian and had insisted Pam keep it to herself, so as not to hurt her father's very right wing, conservative image. Pam essentially told her parents to fuck off and moved across state lines with me to Louisiana so I'd be closer to my mother, who had just been diagnosed with stage III breast cancer.

Without even realizing I was doing it, I told her the whole ugly story of my mother's illness. It wasn't until a solitary tear rolled down her perfectly sun kissed cheek that I realized I'd been talking for quite a while. I clammed up suddenly but felt like a weight had been lifted from me. Pam had been by my side throughout the whole ordeal so I didn't really need to rehash it with her. Besides, Pam wasn't really one for deep emotions. She preferred to keep things light and comfortable and talking about my mother being sick would have violated her policy.

It was then that I realized I hadn't really talked about my mother's death at all. Even at her funeral, I had focused on her life prior to the sickness. I didn't like thinking about how, at the end, I had been praying for her death even though I didn't want her to die. I was just so fucking sick of watching her suffer and slip farther and farther away from me. I hated being so fucking helpless. Praying for her death seemed like the kindest thing I could do and I felt a sense of bitterness when my prayers were answered because deep down what I really wanted was a miracle.

I was worried I'd said too much and put too much out there when Sookie slipped out of her seat and came around the table. She stared down at me for a minute and I was sure she was going to tell me it had been fun while it lasted, but she wasn't looking to cart around someone else's baggage. Instead, she surprised me yet again by settling herself in my lap and wrapping her arms around my neck. I couldn't remember the last time someone hugged me like that. Her small body pressed against mine and her fingers crept up the back on my neck and stroked my hair gently.

_Mom used to do that._

I felt the sting of tears in my eyes but did the guy thing and cleared my throat to make them go away. If anyone else had tried to do what Sookie was doing, I would have shoved them off me. She whispered how sorry she was in my ear and hearing the genuine sadness in her voice caused something in me to break. I wasn't sure what was broken, exactly, but I knew she was single handedly responsible for smashing it to pieces. She pressed light kisses on my jaw and then returned her chin to my shoulder and kept on stroking my hair.

I wasn't sure what she was waiting for. Did she expect me to cry? Did she want me to hug her back? I wasn't terribly good with feelings either, which was part of the reason I stayed out of relationships. I told myself it was just because I was so busy but that wasn't entirely true.

_Come on, Northman. If you can fuck her senseless you can give her a hug_, I goaded myself and slowly let my arms wrap around her waist.

"Is that really the best you can do?" Sookie pulled back and looked me in my eyes. I pulled her flush against me and really held onto her. She smiled and said, "Now _that_ is a proper hug."

There was nothing sexual about it; it was purely about comfort and she made sure I knew it. She stayed there in my lap until I was nearly asleep with all the finger combing she was doing. She smelled like peppermint and I thought, at first it was just what was in her coffee, but I could smell it in her hair when I turned my face toward it. I'd never smelled peppermint scented shampoo before and found the unexpected fragrance suited her.

When she climbed off me I didn't know what to say. I felt closer to her after sharing all that stuff but it was hard to tell what she was thinking. Where was she a year ago when I was going through all this shit for the first time? I internally shook myself because I couldn't think that way. The important thing was I had her now. But did I really have her?

Thunder started to roll overhead and Sookie craned her neck to see past me to the large storefront windows. "I should get going before it starts pouring," Sookie grabbed her sweater off the back of her chair.

"Did you walk here?" I asked her, not wanting her to go just yet.

"Yeah, I did," she smiled while slipped her arms into the sleeves.

"Me too. Mind if I walk back with you?" I asked her and she smiled at me.

"No, of course not," she grabbed her purse and her coffee cup.

I followed suit and then followed her out of the coffee shop. We didn't get very far before the first drops of rain started to fall. Wind that had died down started to pick up again with the approaching storm. Thunder got louder and there was a flash or two of lightning in the distance. The combination of rain and cool wind had me a little chilled and I stuffed my hands in my pockets.

"Cold?" Sookie smiled over at me.

"A little. I didn't think to bring a sweater with me," I was kicking myself for it but then Sookie wrapped herself around one of my arms and I was glad I'd forgotten a sweater. Having her wrapped around me was infinitely better. "So can I ask you something? It's been stuck in my head since Saturday."

"Sure," she said and pushed the call light for pedestrians so we could cross the street.

"When we first met you were really adamant about not exchanging names or personal information with me. Then the other night you were pretty open with me. What changed your mind about us staying anonymous?"

She nibbled her bottom lip in thought for a minute before saying, "The way you laugh."

I was floored. I figured it was something to do with sex but no, she surprised me yet again. "The way I laugh?"

"Yes, the way you laugh. It sounds genuine; not forced or polite like it does with some people. The first time I heard that laugh I thought it was too bad we met the way we did," she confessed.

"Why Sookie, does that mean you like me?" I teased.

"It means I'm curious about you," she stepped off the curb to cross the street. "Like I told you Saturday night, Eric, you're not like everybody else."

What started as a drizzle suddenly became a downpour and by the time we reached her apartment building two blocks later, we were both soaked. We were also laughing and jumping in puddles like a couple of little kids. Once you're soaked, does it really matter if you get any wetter? The only foreseeable problem was that Sookie's sweater kept coming open and the cold and rain definitely had an affect on her. She was clearly flashing me her high beams and the only thing stopping me from putting her up against the wall and mauling her was the fact that her t-shirt was gray and not white. Even so, she was tempting me with all the jumping around she was doing in that tight, wet t-shirt.

She stopped all of a sudden and tilted her face to the sky with her mouth open in attempts to catch raindrops. Unfortunately, that led to images of her on her knees in a similar position trying to catch something else in her mouth and my resolve completely broke. She didn't see it coming when I reached out and grabbed her face to kiss her. I swallowed her moan of surprise but took full advantage of her mouth being open, even just a little.

I pulled her further away from the curb until we were against the brick façade of the building. Warmth was still trapped there from the hours of sunlight before the rain started. I could feel it in my hands but I doubted Sookie could feel it against her back through all the layers of clothing she was wearing. Too many layers, if you ask me.

My lips broke away from her and trailed down her neck. I could feel her pulse throbbing hard and fast under her skin so that it was almost vibrating against my lips. She gasped for air and then pulled my face back to hers so we were eye to eye when she asked, "Mr. Northman would you like to come upstairs?"

I couldn't say yes fast enough.

**SPOV**

Having Eric up to my apartment wasn't part of the plan when I left earlier in the afternoon. Thankfully I kept my apartment pretty tidy or I would have been embarrassed to have Eric come upstairs with me. I'd learned a lot about him in the few hours we were together that afternoon and my feelings shifted a little while listening to him talk about his mother. He seemed like he was down the rabbit hole, completely oblivious to the fact that I was even listening.

It all just came pouring out of him and it was heartbreaking to witness. There was such sadness in his eyes while he described what it was like to watch his mother die a little more each day. When his eyes filled with tears when he talked of holding her hand as she took her last breath, my heart broke for him. While it's true I had a hard time remembering my own parents anymore, I couldn't imagine having to watch them die slow, painful deaths. I started to wonder who got the better deal: me, who lost my parents before I could really get too attached, or Eric, who had his mother for most of his life to date but had to watch her die?

I decided either way it sucked and the only thing I could think of to do to make him feel better was give him a hug. I didn't have any words for him and I didn't think he would appreciate some flowery speech about God's will, or how death could be a miracle when suffering became too great. I could see his anger and I didn't blame him at all for feeling it; I probably would too, if I were in his place. Only when I hugged him, I noticed he stiffened up a little. It was strange how he could touch the most intimate parts of me, how I could let him _inside me_, yet hugging me felt strange to him.

The walk in the rain was more fun than it should have been considering how much I felt like a drowned rat by the time we reached my building. I was sure I looked a mess but that didn't stop Eric from laying one of those toe curling, panty melting kisses on me that made me want to go heels to Jesus in less than three seconds. Epic poems could be written about the talents of his tongue alone.

Eric readily agreed when I offered him the chance to come upstairs to my apartment. I grabbed for his hand and pulled him along behind me. We barely made it to the elevator before he attacked me again and if he had known where my apartment was, I have no doubt I would have ended up hoisted over his shoulder like a sack of potatoes. I sensed he had a little caveman in him when the right mood struck and at some point, I wanted to witness that.

I managed to get my apartment open in spite of the distraction his lips were doing their best to cause. His fingers were already unbuttoning my jeans and I had no delusions I was in for something sweet and romantic, not that that's what I wanted. Eric kicked the door closed behind me and I wondered how long it would be before Amelia called to check on me. With that in mind, I turned to flip the deadbolt and put the chain in place so she couldn't come barging in. She'd claim to be worried about my safety, no doubt, when really she was just plain old nosy.

The two of us trying to undress each other at the same time wasn't getting us very far, especially when our lips didn't seem to want to part company for very long. Before I knew it I was down to my panties and Chucks. I was about to kick them off when Eric said, "Leave them on."

He had his authority voice back on and I was in no mood to argue. There was a predatory look in his eyes as he backed me up against the wall. Our mouths met again while his fingers reacquainted themselves with my nipples, pinching and twisting just right to get them even harder than they already were. I kept expecting him to pull me toward my bedroom, or maybe even the large vintage sofa in my living room that was this funky, bright teal color, but no, we stayed right there up against the wall.

He sank to his knees and rather than pulling my panties off, he pushed them to the side before using his mouth on me. One of my legs ended up slung over his slightly chilled, damp shoulder and my hands found their way into his hair to help keep my balance. That talented tongue of his was working overtime against my defenseless clit and in no time, he had me coming apart and begging for more.

"Eric, I need you inside me. Now," I pleaded. I was right at the edge and I wanted desperately to feel him fill me.

When I thought back to how intimidated I was the first time I saw just how big he was, I almost laughed. While it was still true his size was intimidating, it wasn't as bad as I thought. If anything, I'd reluctantly come to think that maybe, just maybe, we were a perfect fit for one another. I had wrongfully assumed there was no way he was ever going to fit his entire length inside me but he did, and there was no pain as a result.

Eric liked toying with me—and normally I didn't mind it- but at the moment I didn't want to be teased. I wanted him to throw me down on the floor, bend me over the arm of the couch or pull out a chair at the kitchen table and fuck me. What I didn't anticipate was him standing and then picking me up by my thighs. My arms circled his neck and my legs wrapped around his waist. He had me half pinned against the wall in a similar fashion to the way he had in the shower two days prior, and slowly slid himself inside me.

"Oh fuck, you're so big," I breathed as my body stretched.

His lips attacked my neck, his cock advancing inch by delicious inch until he could go no farther. He pulled my hips away from the wall just a little and said, "I want you to watch me fuck you."

My eyes left his to look down at where we were joined and then he started to move. I tried to keep up with his thrusts but they became more powerful. My ass kept slamming against the wall and I could hear a framed photo a few feet away bouncing in time with his thrusts. I sincerely hoped my neighbor wasn't home to hear what was happening because I certainly wasn't being quiet. I felt too damn good to keep it to myself.

As I expected, my phone rang mid-fuck but when Eric slowed down I said, "Ignore it; it's just Amelia."

"Then lets give her something to talk about," Eric said with a dangerous gleam in his eyes and thrust a little harder than before.

"Oh God!" I cried out and dug my fingernails into his back. I scratched him rather hard, but not so hard I drew blood. At least I didn't think so.

My orgasm hit me hard and fast, leaving me with the feeling I had exploded from the inside out. My vision was still a little blurry when Eric released with a roar of his own and got a little weak in the knees. His entire body shuddered but I wasn't worried he would drop me. In fact, I was sure if he fell, he'd make sure he got most of the impact of it. Slowly, my legs unlocked themselves from behind his back and he pulled out of me gently as I slid toward the floor.

I tried to walk on wobbly legs before deciding I wasn't going to get very far, and ended up sinking down against the wall instead. Eric practically fell beside me. It wasn't the ideal cuddle spot, but ask me if I cared. I didn't; I really didn't.

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><p><strong>Sweet and spicy, just the way I like these two. While I was working on this story tonight I realized I have the perfect song to accompany this pair. So if you're a Marilyn Manson fan, or even if you aren't, check out a song called "Evidence." It totally fits these two and it will become even more apparent in just a few more chapters. Thanks for all the review love for this story without a plan. I appreciate all the suggestions and thoughts I've received for it. Until next time...<strong>


	7. Not What You Think

**This chapter is fairly safe for work, if you're in an office environment today, just so you know.**

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><p><strong>SPOV<strong>

Thankfully Eric's boxers weren't very wet so he was able to put those on while I got dressed. By dressed, I mean a slinky little summer dress and a pair of sandals so I could take the rest of his clothes down to the laundry room to dry. It was a quick trip and when I came back upstairs I found Eric sitting on my enormous sofa with one of my high school yearbooks open in his lap. He grinned at me when he looked up.

"What?" I asked with amusement.

"You were a cheerleader," he said with a tinge of awe in his voice.

I smirked and curled up on the other end of the couch. "Yes, I was. I was also on the debate team, a member of French club and president of S.A.D.D. my senior year. I was also a gymnast for my first two years but then the Temptations," I gestured to my chest. "Started getting in my way too much so I had to quit."

Eric barked one of those belly laughs that I loved hearing and shook his head at me. "The Temptations, huh?"

"It was either that or the Dynamic Duo and the Temptations sounded less scandalous," I shrugged with a smile on my face.

"Well it says here," Eric looked down at my senior picture, which made me cringe. "And nice pink streaks in your hair, by the way," he teased me and got a playful punch on the arm for it.

"I was going through a rebellious phase!" I glared at him.

"I don't know, Sookie, you look a little bit too much like Gwen Stefani here," he smirked at me.

I gasped and launched myself at him. "Shut up! I did _not_!"

"Come on…short pleated skirt, with combat boots and the straps of your thong up over your hips…" he trailed off, getting lost in the image.

"First of all, I have _never_ worn a thong in my entire life. I refuse to walk around on purpose with a wedgie. Second of all, I only wore a pleated skirt that _wasn't_ my cheerleading uniform with mary janes," I climbed into his lap at that while he closed his eyes and bit his bottom lip in attempts to control himself, I gathered. "And most importantly, if I was ever going to try and look bad ass, I'd look like Deborah Harry and not Gwen Stefani."

"Blondie, huh?" he opened just one eye a sliver.

"Yep, Blondie. You know... pants so tight they're like a second skin, glossy and pouty red lips and all that crazy, wind blown hair…" I trailed off.

"Keep talking," Eric smiled at me.

I looked down at the tent forming in his boxers and said, "I think you get the point." I climbed off his lap before we had the chance to get round two started, even though there was definitely the temptation to go there. Or maybe I just liked the idea of teasing him to the point of insanity like he had done to me a few times since we met. Whatever my reason, Eric growled in frustration but didn't try to pull me back.

"So, Sookie, I have to ask if you following through on your ambition of world domination has started to take shape yet." Eric read from my yearbook.

I threw my head back and laughed. "I said that because I had absolutely no idea what I wanted to do with my life back then and I also think someone had approached me with that question before I had coffee."

"You were a coffee addict in high school?" he looked surprised.

"Are you kidding me? I had my first cup at a wake when I was thirteen and I've been hooked ever since. Coffee is part of the reason why I am the woman I am today," I pulled my knees to my chest.

"Is that so?"

I nodded and asked, "Isn't there anything silly like that in your own life that's helped shape the person you've become?"

"Music," Eric nodded.

"See? We all have our something," I shrugged.

"And I see you listen to vinyl?" he was staring at the record player over in the corner.

"I found that in my Gran's attic last time I went to visit her and she told me to take it if I wanted it. I've been collecting records for years just because I love album covers. Half of the stuff I have, I've never even listened to," I told him.

"That's a shame. I also noticed you don't have a TV," Eric looked around, slightly confused.

"It's hidden over there in the desk," I pointed to the desk. "I don't watch it very often and it's a flat screen, so it stays hidden in the cabinet most of the time."

"You are just full of surprises," he marveled.

Thunder rolled and lightning lit up the sky. My power flickered, as it had a tendency to do in severe electrical storms. I climbed off the couch and went to a buffet table in the corner to get out some candles just in case. After that, I offered Eric something to drink. I was in the mood for wine and Eric agreed to have some.

"This is a nice apartment," he stood at my side in the kitchen.

I nodded my agreement while wrestling with the corkscrew. I hated uncorking wine. It never went as smoothly as it should have. Eventually, Eric offered to do it for me and I was more than willing to pass the bottle along. Of course, he had the cork out in a matter of seconds. Show off. I got down two glasses and let him pour while I excused myself to use the bathroom.

When I came out, Eric was staring at my fridge. "Did you draw this?" he pointed to a picture on the side.

"No, Sophie did that," I smiled at him and took the glass he offered me. "And my friend Maria took the pictures that are hanging in my living room."

"You have a lot of very talented friends," he smiled over at me.

"I like to think I roll with the best," I shrugged and sipped my wine. "What made you want to open your own venue?"

We went back to the living room and sat down together on the sofa. I curled my legs under me while Eric sort of sprawled. I was never more thankful my couch was as big as it was. Otherwise I probably would have been practically sitting in his lap and I'd done enough of that already. I chased away any dirty thoughts and told myself I wasn't going to go there again. Maybe eventually, but not yet.

"I love music, for starters," he set his wine glass down on the table. "And I like the idea of helping artists have a place to start. Every band that's ever played at Shakespeare's Sister is unsigned."

"So you're feeding starving artists," I couldn't be sure, but I think I maybe fell for him a little just then.

"Nah, they feed themselves. I just help set the table," he shrugged. His modesty was refreshing, and not at all what I might have expected after the nights we spent together.

"I was wrong about you," I said suddenly.

"Oh? How so?"

I took a big drink of my wine before saying, "Well, I saw you walking into that bar in the suit you had on and you looked like you belonged there. You had all this confidence and you just seemed…I never would have thought you were the kind of guy who wore Goonies t-shirts and tried to expose people to awesomeness without taking a shit ton of credit for it."

Eric laughed that laugh I liked so much and said, "Well, at least we're sort of on the same page with making bad assumptions about each other."

"We were going by what we saw," I shrugged. "I was dressed like a hooker and you were dressed like…well, not a hooker."

"You weren't dressed like a hooker," Eric said firmly. "Seeing you now, I never would have guessed you had a dress like that in your closet, but it looked very good on you."

"Yeah, that's a relic from my college days," I rolled my eyes. "But you weren't entire wrong about the pleated skirt and combat boots."

His eyebrows rose and he said, "Why Susannah, you didn't lie to me, did you?"

A chill shot through me at hearing him call me by my full name. "In my defense I should mention I was in my cheerleading uniform at the time. I told you I went through a rebellious phase."

"Now _that_ is something I would love to have seen." He went a little glassy eyed and slack jawed. "How do you feel about role playing?" he asked with a sly grin.

I nearly choked on my wine and slapped his arm while I coughed. "Where were guys like you in high school? Guys _hated me_ back then, and I was sporting these," I gestured to the Temptations. "When I was fifteen."

"Men are idiots. But if it helps, I'm sure they thought about your boobs all the time," Eric patted my shoulder sympathetically. "High school is a cruel experiment, if you ask me."

"I liked high school," I confessed, which seemed to surprise him but then he schooled his face.

"Of course you did. You were a cheerleader."

"A cheerleader who wore combat boots, got straight A's and hung out with the drama kids," I said with a smile.

"You really didn't fit in anywhere, did you?" Eric smirked at me.

"I never much cared about fitting in," I shrugged. "I got involved with cheerleading because I liked going to games and being a part of that energy. I got good grades because I wanted a solid education and a chance at a scholarship so I could go to college. I hung out with the drama kids because they were fun and cared about something other than getting high or doing what everyone else was doing. I was never afraid to stick my neck out and be myself the way most teenagers are."

"Then you are definitely part of the minority," he looked a little bitter.

"Oh come on, Eric, we all have shitty things happen to us in high school. Even if you were a total nerd back then, look at you now! You run your own business, you have great taste in music, you're good looking and you're fucking amazing in bed," I told him, seeing no reason to hold anything back.

He blushed. _He fucking blushed!_

He also changed the subject and asked, "What do you do for a living?"

"You know that store across the street from Ruby's Brew called Beyond the Limit?" I asked him and took a sip of my wine. He nodded and I continued, "I co-own that place with three other people."

His jaw dropped and for a minute, I thought he was going to get down on his knees and worship me in a very Wayne's World "I'm not worthy" sort of way. "Get the fuck out," he muttered instead.

"I'm serious. Originally it was just my friend Lafayette and me running the place but it just kept getting bigger and bigger so we took on more partners. Now it's Lafayette, Maria, Amelia and me running that place together."

Beyond the Limit came about before Hot Topic became a big deal. It had started out as this tiny, hole in the wall excuse for a store. We mostly sold Gothic style jewelry, leather goods and items for body modification back then. Lafayette was a certified piercer so he did piercings in the back room of the store. Back then, the whole Goth movement was really just getting started and kids who dressed in all black with funky hair colors and too much eyeliner on were all called freaks.

It didn't start to catch on in the mainstream until a few years later, but by then, being Goth had morphed into something else entirely. Kids either seemed to go Emo and bitch about how much their lives sucked being carted around suburbia in their mom's minivan, or they thought being Goth was an excuse to act like everyday was Halloween. What had once been a movement about self-expression had turned into something trendy, hence the birth of Hot Topic, which, in my opinion, was a joke.

Of course, Beyond the Limit had evolved quite a bit since its inception when I was just twenty-years-old. We'd gone from being this underground secret shop no one wanted to admit they shopped at to this warehouse style den of crazy. We sold everything from the same body jewelry we had started out with to vintage clothing and even organic foods. It was Amelia and her bohemian lifestyle that got us to consider expanding our horizons and we had successfully managed to blend old school Gothic with new age hippie. I tried not to think about how fucked up it was, or what made us so successful, lest I anger the Gods and wind up out of business.

"I had no idea you were a part of that. I must have gone in there a hundred times," Eric shook his head, still in awe.

"I'm usually back in the offices since the rest of the staff hates doing paperwork," I shrugged. "They get to have all the fun."

"You are just full of surprises, Sookie," Eric said for a second time and continued to marvel.

"You weren't expecting me to be a Goth cheerleader turned business owner?" I laughed quietly.

"Not at all," he said just as the timer went off for the dryer.

"Hold that thought. I'll be right back," I smiled and climbed off the couch to go get his clothes.

**EPOV**

Sookie was a former cheerleader who wore combat boots with her uniform and despised thongs, only to end up owning one of the most successful alternative lifestyle themed stores in the entire state of Louisiana. I was impressed. I was also serious about role playing because I _definitely_ wanted to see for myself what she looked like in one of those uniforms. The picture in the yearbook didn't do her justice. Although I was glad she'd stopped dying her hair. She looked good just blonde.

I was reading over some of the notes that had been inscribed in her yearbook and I couldn't help but laugh at the cliché factor of it all. There was so little written in there that was original. There were the few who attempted to recall a specific memory of something funny that had happened, or maybe something touching, but for the most part, it was all the same.

_Keep in touch…_

_Don't ever change…_

_Thank God we're out of here…_

_I'll miss you…_

_Hell yeah, class of 2000!_

_Call me anytime you want to talk…_

_Stay cool…_

_Have a bitchin' summer…_

_Best of luck in the future…_

I counted at least three dozen phone numbers and I wondered how many of them she'd ever called. I knew from my own experience that I hadn't called a single number that had been left in my yearbook for me. I'd always been the odd one out. Pam was my best friend but everyone knew she was a lesbian long before she came out with it.

Then again, Pam never really bothered to try and keep it a secret either. She never once apologized for who she was and in what might just be the most conservative state in the country, our classmates didn't really know what to make of the liberal lesbian they shared a lunch table with. Well, they would if Pam ever ate lunch.

Pam always had enough personality that it didn't feel like I only had one real friend, even if that was the case. The messages left for me in my yearbook (Pam had insisted I get one for posterity's sake so someday we could laugh at the stupid bullshit people wrote for us) was remarkably similar to the things written on the inside covers of Sookie's yearbook. Only there seemed to be a much bigger percentage of people who really knew her, whereas I was definitely more of a loner.

I was built like a jock, even back then, but never had an interest in sports. I mean, I'd watch football (if a teenage boy in Texas didn't watch football, he had to be a queer) or other sports on TV, but I had no interest in playing them myself. I sure as shit had no interest in hanging out with the drama kids or the geeks in marching band. I wasn't tortured (or talented) enough to hang out with the art kids. I was smart and got good grades, but I wasn't about to become a Mathlete or join the debate team either.

Simply put, I was perfectly fine being apathetic and doing my own thing. I dated from time to time but the girls I was interested in weren't usually interested in me because I wasn't into being a jock and I didn't give a shit about being popular. It turned out, the more withdrawn I was and the less information I gave out about myself, the more girls talked. Pam was an excellent source of information and she was able to explain away their fascination with me when I had absolutely no clue what the big deal was.

I couldn't figure out why they were so fucking intrigued by me which, according to Pam, was a typical male response. Pam put it rather bluntly when she said, "Basically they want to know if you're hung. You're practically a goddman giant and they want to know if the myth about shoe size is true."

I faintly remembered hearing some fucked up rumor that if you divided a guy's shoe size in half and added one, that would tell you how big his dick was. I had no idea who came up with that shit but I knew for a fact it wasn't true. For instance, it didn't work in my case, and I had spent enough time in the guy's locker room to know it wasn't true for quite a few other guys either. It amazed me what sort of inane equations people came up with to try and figure that out.

I'd just located Sookie's picture as part of her Homecoming Court and I couldn't help but laugh quietly. She wasn't just part of the "Rose Court," like most of the girls. No, Sookie was the damn queen. In the high school I went to, no way was a girl who strutted around in combat boots with pink streaks in her hair _ever_ going to be made Homecoming Queen. She looked beautiful, however, dressed in a pretty white sweater with a matching skirt while the girls around her were dressed in white sweaters and black skirts. Even back then, Sookie was obviously addicted to sunshine.

A knock on the door forced me to put the yearbook down on the coffee table. I thought maybe Sookie forgot her keys or needed help with the door so I got up to answer it. Unfortunately, it wasn't Sookie on the other side of the door, but Amelia instead. Her face lit up for all of two seconds before a knowing expression took over.

"Well, well, check out the cock in the hen house," she smirked at me.

"We got caught in the rain," I said casually but Amelia wasn't buying it.

"And since when does rain smell like sex?" she arched an eyebrow at me. She'd been spending too much time with Pam.

"Amelia!" Sookie called from down the hallway and I tried not to let it show how relieved I was. "Leave him alone."

"I was just worried since I heard all the _banging_ around in here and you didn't answer when I called," Amelia said innocently, except for that little wiggle of her brows when she used the word 'banging.'

"As you can see, I'm perfectly fine and so is Eric," Sookie stepped into the apartment with my clothes neatly folded. "I'll call you later."

There was no further discussion before Sookie closed the door in Amelia's face, leaving our mutual 'friend' to cackle in the hall. Sookie rolled her eyes and started to apologize for Amelia but it wasn't necessary. "It's fine, Sookie. You don't need to apologize for her. I know how she works."

"Still, she has no concept of when to keep her mouth shut," she walked past me toward the living room and curled up on the couch again, adjusting her skirt to make sure she wasn't flashing me. If only I was that lucky.

I went to the bathroom to get dressed and when I came out I looked out the window behind the couch and smiled faintly. "It stopped raining."

Sookie turned her head slightly, baring that beautiful neck of hers to me where I could still see little splotches where I'd marked her two days before. "Yeah, I guess it has."

"I guess that's my cue to get out of here then," I said but didn't make any moves to go.

I felt a little bit of panic. I didn't want to leave. I liked talking to her. She was interesting and had intelligent things to say. At the same time, I couldn't possibly learn everything there was to know about her in one night and it was probably for the best that I left before I ended up staying the night. She reached for the wine glasses on the coffee table and walked past me to the kitchen where she deposited the wine glasses in the sink.

"I was thinking," I said as I reluctantly bent down to put on my shoes. "What if we had dinner together one night this week?"

"Dinner is good. I like dinner," she nodded with a bright smile on her face. A real date. That'd be something new for us. "What day is good for you?"

"My nights off are Sunday and Monday," I told her. "But I could probably do something early on Thursday if you're free."

"Yeah, I could fit you in on Thursday," the way she said it made me wonder if she was thinking this was a date to get together more for sex than food, but I was serious about an actual meal.

But since I didn't want to make a fuss over it in case I was reading her wrong, I just nodded along. "Great. Then should I pick you up here?"

"Sure," she smiled and walked over to the door.

We both stood there staring at each other for a minute before I reached up and tucked some of her hair behind her ear. I heard her breath catch but then she cleared her throat and seemed to shake herself internally the way I'd had to do a few times over the course of the afternoon.

"So I'll see you Thursday then?" she smiled up at me.

"Yes, you will," I promised her, then leaned down to kiss her goodbye. It was a soft, gentle kiss instead of the usual precursor to something wilder. "Goodnight, Sookie." I said as I stepped out of her apartment.

"Goodnight, Eric," she said with a sly smile and slowly closed the door.

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><p><strong>This chapter was really fun for me to write, mostly because I was able to use bits and pieces from the extension I'd started writing at Scribeninja's request. Originally I had continued from the one shot with Eric slipping his business card in Sookie's purse but now that I know this Eric a little better, I doubt he has business cards. He strikes me as the kind of guy who only checks email because he HAS to. We won't be finding him on facebook or twitter, that's for damn sure. No lemons this chapter, obviously, but I hope you enjoyed it all the same. Thanks for reading!<strong>


	8. The Search For a Happy Ending

**So I'm just going to warn you now that a lot of you are going to have a very WTF reaction to what happens in this chapter. I'm fully prepared for your rage, but just know it leads to better things in the next chapter, which is about as NSFW as a chapter can get. **

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><p><strong>EPOV<strong>

We had a packed house. A band with a big local following was just about to start the first of three shows they were booked to play at Shakespeare's Sister. They'd played for us before and always filled the place to capacity and then some. There was chatter in the earpiece I wore on nights when the venue was crowded so I had a better idea of what was going on at all times. I tuned it out, listening only for key words or my own name.

Pam was currently at the door doing battle with a pair of teenagers who were trying to get into a twenty-one and over show with fake identification. Pam had an eagle eye for that shit and the posers were always pissed off when she confiscated the ID. We actually had a Wall of Shame she'd started for the really bad ones, and there were quite a few.

"Make some space on The Wall, boys, Mama's got some new losers to share," Pam's voice came through my earpiece and I couldn't help but smile.

I didn't get to enjoy it for long since there was a counterfeit bill spotted over at one of the two bars in the venue and I growled with frustration. That meant calling the cops to straighten that shit out and I hated dealing with the police if I didn't have to. Then I remembered I had Stan Davis' number and my night got a little better. He was a beat cop who looked more like a math teacher than he did a cop, but he was good at his job. He never wasted my time or jerked me around.

I stepped back to my office to find his number in my rolodex when Pam's voice got my attention again. "Eric, what's your twenty?"

Pam had started talking like a cop after a brief affair with Stan's partner, Isabel. I rolled my eyes but gave her a response anyway. "I'm in the office looking for Stan's number. Rasul's holding a counterfeit at bar one."

"Motherfucker," Pam growled. She hated having to call the cops as much as I did. Too much fucking paperwork and there was always the chance someone might fuck up and cause more problems. "What's the denomination?"

"Tried to change a hundred," I sighed while searching for Stan's number.

"Get a fucking palm pilot or something, will you?" Pam asked, knowing exactly what I was doing. "That ancient ass rolodex on your desk is going to make great kindling one of these days."

"So would your Jimmy Choos," I retorted, knowing I'd pay for that later.

"Touch my babies and I'll wear your balls as earrings at Thanksgiving dinner," she threatened.

"Careful, Pammy, Mama and Papa might think you've turned a new leaf," I warned and she cackled.

The laughter stopped abruptly and she said, "Don't call me Pammy."

I smirked and then grinned when I found Stan's number. Why it wasn't already in my phone, I had no idea. I remedied that quickly and dialed Stan's number. He picked up on the third ring and knew who was calling. "Northman, that you?" he asked with his usual genial humor.

"Evening, Officer," I smiled even though he couldn't see it.

"What can I do for you?"

"We've got someone trying to pass a fake Benjamin," I told him.

"Fuck. Listen, I'd love to help you out but I am currently on vacation. I can text Isabel for you though. She should be on tonight," Stan offered.

"That'd be great," I sighed and slumped in my chair.

"Not a problem. I gotta run, I'll see you when I get back," Stan said goodnight and then hung up.

A half hour later Isabel arrived to deal with the counterfeiter. Turned out he had close to two grand in fake bills on him, so he was looking at some serious trouble with the local law enforcement. Isabel informed me, as she was cuffing the asshole, that there had been a lot of counterfeiting issues as of late. I found it hard to believe the scrawny kid in front of me could be the mastermind of the operation, but who the hell knew anymore. Maybe it was just me, but kids seemed to be getting dumber and dumber with each passing generation.

I went out to check on the bars just as the band was taking the stage. Everything was running relatively smoothly, outside of the occasional wrinkles. There was still a line outside of people hoping to get in for the standing room only area, but we were maxed out. The last thing I needed was for the Fire Marshall to make a surprise appearance and really fuck up my night because we were over capacity.

I'd stepped out the back door into the alley to get some fresh air a few minutes earlier when a familiar voice caught my ears. "Don't you know it's not safe for little boys to play outside in the dark?" Sookie asked from the end of the alley.

My head turned to the right and I smiled to see her standing there with a wristband on and a drink in her hand. Pam knew she was here and didn't tell me? I'd kill her later. At the moment, all I could concentrate on was the dress Sookie was wearing. It was covered in sequins that sort of faded into one another. It went from silver to pink to gold to white. The Temptations—definitely the most accurate nickname ever- were pushed nice and high and her perfectly tan legs were mostly on display since the skirt, if you could even call it that, just barely covered her ass. I was pretty sure I had handkerchiefs bigger than that dress.

"What are you doing here?" I asked since I wasn't expecting to see her.

"I'm here on a date," she revealed, which was a total punch in the balls.

"A date?" I could barely get the words out.

"Yeah, you know, guy meets girl, guy likes girl, guy asks girl to have dinner with him…" she trailed off. "Eric, we never said we were exclusive," she reminded me.

"I know," I shook it off quickly, or at least tried to look like I had. "It's just…well, isn't it a little fucked up that you came here?"

Sookie stepped toward me with a shrug of her shoulders. "I don't think so. It was actually _my_ idea we come here."

"Did I do something to piss you off?" I asked since there had to be a reason why she was flaunting a date in my face. Did she want me to get jealous?

"No," she smiled up at me, stopping to stand right in front of me. She smelled amazing. A breeze blew by, pushing the smell of peppermint toward me. I wanted to devour her.

"Then why?"

"Because dinner was awful and I didn't want to go home yet," she shrugged again.

"So you thought you'd continue on a date that sucks ass?" I was definitely confused.

"Sort of," she moved a little closer. "I knew you would be here. I wanted to see you. I thought maybe you could use a little distraction."

Her eyes told me everything. She was looking to get lucky and apparently, the guy she went to dinner with wasn't exciting enough to win that honor. I didn't know if I should be offended that she had come to me like she did, or hand in my Man Card for even considering turning her away. But then her fingers were tracing the lines of my abs and all thoughts of sending her packing disappeared.

I pushed the button to activate my earpiece and said, "I'm taking my dinner break."

My lips had just crashed down on Sookie's when Pam responded with, "Don't forget to use a condom."

**SPOV**

Barry was my Gran's idea. He was the grandson of some DGD member friend of hers and even though her description of the guy left much to be desired, I couldn't exactly say no. Gran wanted me to be happy, and after the ex was such an epic failure in the romance department, she was concerned I was going to end up a spinster and start collecting cats. I didn't want Gran to be worried about me and since I definitely hadn't mentioned whatever the fuck I was doing with Eric, which, coincidentally, was mostly fucking; I didn't have much of an excuse to give Gran as to why I couldn't go out with Barry.

Unless, of course, I wanted to tell her he sounded even more dull than the ex was. While that would have been the truth, it just seemed easier to buck up and play along. I figured it was just two, maybe three hours of my life. I could go to dinner, share a little about myself and then tell him when we parted ways it wasn't going to work out. Sounded simple enough and Lord knows I've done it before.

Dinner was awful. Well, no, dinner was great. Thankfully Barry had let me pick the restaurant. In fact, Barry had let me pick just about everything, like he was afraid to have an opinion and I hated that shit. Man up and fucking say what you want or you aren't getting it. Since he'd never been to the restaurant we ended up at, he insisted I order for him. He sat across from me looking scared and not really saying a whole lot.

I was beyond grateful when our food came because at least it gave me something else to concentrate on besides the staggered, limited conversation I was having with the pale man across from me. I figured there had to be something he was interested in, even if it was just whether or not he liked the meal I'd selected for him.

"How do you like it?" I gestured to his plate.

"Oh, it's very good," he politely wiped his mouth with a cloth napkin. "I'm not usually a big fan of shrimp, but I like this."

Not a fan of shrimp, huh? I reserved my eye roll for when he excused himself for the bathroom. It was while I was sitting there at the table by myself that I remembered the tickets I had in my purse to see a band that was playing at Shakespeare's Sister. I'd bought the tickets weeks ago when I found out the band was playing there again. I'd seen them once before, and it was the one time I thought I saw Eric in the six months since we first met.

Something told me Barry probably wouldn't appreciate indie folk rock, but I was going to the show, with or without him. Amelia could be ready at a moment's notice if need be. Besides, the concert was a good idea since it meant having something to do without having to really pay much attention to each other. I was shocked when he got back to the table and readily accepted my invitation to check out the band. My heart sank a little, since I had been expecting him to turn me down in favor of going home to do whatever it was he did by himself.

"I've never been to a concert before," Barry confessed with a blush and a nervous smile.

_The things I do for Gran_.

"Never? What kind of music do you listen to?" I asked since we hadn't discussed that.

"Classical, mostly," he shrugged. "My Mom likes jazz."

Wow. Okay.

"And what kind of music do _you_ like?"

Again, there was shrugging and he said, "I don't know. I guess classical and jazz."

Right, so this shit needed to stop. Like, now.

"Barry, can I be brutally honest with you?" I leaned a little closer to him.

He nodded and kept his eyes on the floor. I was going to have my work cut out for me with this one.

"Look at me," I said and his eyes slowly lifted. "Do you really want to be here right now?"

He sputtered for a few seconds and then started to say, "Sookie, you're a nice person and you're beautiful and-"

"That doesn't answer my question, Barry. Do. You. Want. To. Be. Here?"

He took a deep breath, closed his eyes and shook his head. "I'm not good on dates. I'm not good with girls. I'm awkward and I don't know what to say."

I put a hand on his shoulder and said, "You have to lighten up, Barry. We all get nervous on dates. The only people who _don't_ get nervous on first dates are arrogant assholes, at least from my experience, and I've been on _a lot_ of first dates."

He nodded but didn't say anything else. I couldn't tell if I was extremely frustrated with him or if I felt badly for him. He was a few years younger than me and from what Gran had said, Barry never really had a girlfriend. Setting him up with someone like me was probably a big mistake on Gran's part and I started to feel guilty because he'd probably figured out I was only doing this as a favor to my Gran. Barry and I just had zero chemistry.

"Here's the deal, Barry. You know that the person you're on a date with is someone you should have chemistry with, right?" I asked him and he nodded slowly. "I mean this in the nicest way possible, but there's no chemistry here between us. You seem like a really sweet guy, but I'm just not feeling _it_. Know what I mean?"

"So why do you want me to go to the concert?" he asked me, clearly confused.

"Because maybe you'll meet someone there who you _do_ feel chemistry with. You're never going to find someone if you sit at home all the time. Besides, I know the people who own the venue where the concert is happening. No to mention, the band that's playing is really awesome. Just give it a chance," I shrugged. "If you hate it, you can leave."

I saw no reason to tell him Eric would be there and I would be going in search of him as soon as I knew Barry was settled. The only way to salvage my night was a few hot minutes with the disgustingly gorgeous blond man that had been rocking my dream world (and plenty of my daydreams) for months. Frankly it wasn't any of Barry's business and I didn't want to make him feel worse.

He agreed to go with me, however, and as fucked up as it was, I thought it would be good karma to try and get him hooked up with someone else. Pam had her best Cheshire Cat grin on when she saw me approaching with Barry in tow. It'd been a while since I'd seen Pam and I was curious to know just how much she knew about my relationship with Eric. I was sure Amelia had reported back her findings after catching Eric in my apartment in nothing but his boxers, and based on the grin on Pam's face, I knew I wasn't wrong.

"Sookie Stackhouse," Pam purred when Barry and I were standing right in front of her. "Who's your friend?"

"Pam, this is Barry Horowitz. Barry, this is Pam Ravenscroft, co-owner of this fine establishment," I gestured between them.

Barry was clearly intimidated by Pam and mumbled a greeting none of us could hear. Pam was dressed to kill, as she usually was, in a pair of freakishly tight leather pants, black leather corset and what had to be six inch black platform pumps. Her hair was pulled back and styled ornately and her makeup was flawless as ever. The contrast between Pam's work appearance and the way she dressed when she was off the clock never ceased to amaze me. Usually when I saw Pam, she was dressed in cute little twin sets, khakis and skirt suits.

"I hate to ruin your fun, but we're at capacity if you don't have tickets," she said in that smooth, Texas drawl of hers.

"I do," I reached into my purse and fished the tickets from my wallet.

"How long have you two been seeing each other?" Pam asked with a coy smile that told me she was dying to be there when Eric saw us. "You know Eric's inside."

"Is he?" I played dumb, even though I was sure he was there.

"Like you didn't know that," Pam smirked at me and then asked, "Eric, what's your twenty?"

I tried not have a reaction anyone could see and I was thankful they couldn't hear my heartbeat speed up. I knew what I was doing was technically bad form. I was setting my date up with someone else so I'd be free to go after the guy I really wanted to be with. Something about Eric made me want to throw out all the rules and make up my own and that meant ditching Barry. It was tacky and probably crude, but all I could think about was making sure my night had a happy ending.

"He's in his office. We have a situation right now, but I'll be sure to let him know you're here," Pam smiled and handed me the ticket stubs. "Have fun you two."

I pulled Barry along behind me and headed straight for the bar. Being at Shakespeare's Sister was clearly outside Barry's comfort zone. He was practically clinging to me like a scared four-year-old in a haunted house. I got myself a glass of wine while Barry didn't seem to know what he wanted to drink. He confessed he'd never had alcohol before which wasn't really shocking. He gave beer a try and even though I wasn't convinced he really liked it, he didn't complain about it either.

I scanned the area, hoping to catch a glimpse of Eric, but didn't see him. What I did see, however, was a pretty redheaded girl who looked like she was going to teach Sunday school as soon as she left the concert. Even better, she was staring at Barry like she'd just found the love of her life. I nudged Barry to get his attention.

"There's a girl with red hair at your seven who is checking you out," I told Barry, who looked confused before his eyes got wide with understanding. "_Don't_ stare at her. Look around the room before you look at her."

Barry nodded nervously, but did as I told him to. He gasped when their eyes met and he said, "Oh my God, she's really looking at me."

"Go talk to her," I told him.

"What? No! I can't do that!" Barry shook his head.

"Yes, you can." I looked over my shoulder and noted what kind of drink she was holding. "Bring her a fresh drink," I said and flagged the bartender to get her attention. Barry was shaking his head almost maniacally beside me. "Barry, it's not a big deal. You bring her the drink and tell her something simple, like you think she has pretty eyes or you noticed she was running low on her drink. You don't have to propose to her."

It took some goading and feeding him a good opening line before I was able to shove him in the redhead's direction. I watched him make his way through the crowd and I worried he would abort his mission when he hesitated about half way there. But then the redhead noticed him walking toward her and she smiled. Amazing what that smile could do and Barry made his way over to the girl with a straighter spine and probably a little more confidence.

I moved away from the bar and headed toward the inner part of the venue. The stage was all set up and most people were starting to take their seats. What I loved about Shakespeare's Sister was that there was no assigned seating. When you bought tickets, you had no way of knowing if you'd end up with a table down in the front, or if you'd end up on the cushy, pleather benches that lined the walls separated the bar from the seating area.

"He's out back if you're looking for him," Pam whispered in my ear before disappearing into the crowd again.

I waited until I was sure Barry was set with the redhead before slipping out of the venue. Pam winked at me as I passed her and she kindly pointed me in the direction where Eric was. How she knew he was there, I had no idea, but sure enough I found him standing in the alley, leaned up against the building. There was a roar of applause from the crowd inside as the band took the stage. I stood there for a few seconds, just watching Eric with his head tilted up and his eyes closed.

Music began to play and if it weren't for the fact that I was just a few feet away from Eric, I would have been really disappointed I wasn't inside since they were playing one of my favorite songs. I took a step closer to Eric and smiled into the darkness.

"Don't you know it's not safe for little boys to play outside in the dark?" I asked him, and his head turned to look in my direction.

He was clearly surprised to see me standing there and I watched as he took in the dress I was wearing. It was a vintage dress I didn't wear very often, mostly because my hair had a tendency to get caught in the sequins and it was painful to constantly be yanking it free. I explained I was there, technically still on a date, even though my date had moved on to someone else. Eric looked a little pissed at me, which I couldn't really hold against him. I knew I was taking a risk by bringing Barry along with me. I had potential to be burned by not just one guy, but two, in the same night.

And really, when I stopped to think about it, it was ballsy of me to assume Eric would even want to see me. Since we hadn't said we were exclusive there was always the possibility he was hooking up with some rabid bar skank when I wasn't around and I didn't have a right to be pissed off about that. This line of thinking, of course, led me to wonder if I even wanted the right to be pissed off about it.

I vaguely explained my situation to him, making it clear I'd come because I wanted to see _him_, which I definitely did. My fingers started walking up that incredibly toned tummy of his and I took it as a good sign when he didn't dodge away from my hand or tell me to fuck off. His eyes met mine and there was that dangerous look that made my heart race and my panties melt.

"I'm taking my dinner break," Eric said but I knew he wasn't talking to me.

Or maybe he was because a second later his lips were on mine and I was being pulled inside the building. I had no idea where we were going but I managed to find a flat surface to set my drink on since I was pretty sure I wouldn't be needing it anymore. How Eric was able to keep kissing like he did while navigating the dark hallways to wherever he was taking me, I had no idea. We stopped at the foot of a staircase and that was when he broke the kiss.

"Do you trust me?" he asked while his hands were kneading my hips gently. I nodded breathlessly, then squealed when he tossed me over his shoulder in a fireman's carry and started up the stairs.

"Where are we going?" I asked while he climbed but my only answer was a slap on the ass. "Eric!"

"You said you trust me, so shut up and do it," he said in a way that made me want to jump him and kick him in the shin all at the same time.

No one but my idiot brother ever told me to shut up, and that hadn't happened since we were teenagers. At the same time, I was oddly turned on by the tone of his voice and I was back to wondering what my damage was. I couldn't, for the life of me, understand why I was so into the way he just took control of me like he did. Nor could I understand why I kept seeking it out.

When we got wherever it was we were going, he put me back on my feet but only long enough to back me up against a wall and kiss me again. It felt like he had a thousand hands and they were everywhere at once. Being with him was like fucking a hurricane. He kept me off balance and trying to figure out what he was going to do next. He pressed against me and I could feel his excitement just above my hip.

I had just reached for the fly of his black jeans when he pulled away from me. He took a step back and stared me down. "Take off your panties, Susannah," he told me in a low, gravely voice that, in combination with my full name, made my heart skip a beat and my mouth go dry. "Don't take your eyes off of mine."

I did as I was told, making sure to keep my eyes on his as my hands slipped under my skirt and my fingers began to tug at my panties. I took them off slowly, bending at the waist just until I reached my knees and then lifting my legs one at a time to step out of the material. Before I could ask what he wanted me to do with them, Eric snatched them away and shoved them in his pocket. His eyes dared me to say anything to contradict him but I kept quiet.

"Go over to the table and bend over it until your elbows touch the surface," he stared hard at me and I could feel his eyes watching me as I walked across the dark and slightly musty room to where the table was.

There were a few boxes stacked up and some old promotional posters were rolled and standing up in the corner. A few folding chairs were in their compressed state and stacked over by the boxes. Since he didn't specify where, exactly, he wanted me to stand I went to the closest part of the table and bent over until my elbows were touching the table. I felt a slight rush of air against my newly exposed skin and since I wasn't wearing panties, I was getting air in a place where I wasn't used to it.

The lights went out, leaving us in almost total darkness except for what light managed to get in from the stage below us. My heart got impossibly faster when I heard Eric walking toward me. His fingers grazed the back of my thigh and he said, "Spread your legs, Susannah."

I gulped silently, hesitating while I think, _this was what I had come for_, and I was never more glad I'd listened to my gut than I was at that moment.

* * *

><p><strong>Yep, I'm totally cutting you off here. Dom!Eric is so much fun to write. He get so bossy and...yeah, you know how it is. The next chapter is ready to go, so I'll post it tomorrow or Thursday. We'll see. Hope everyone had a fun 4th of July yesterday! Thanks for reading!<strong>


	9. Match

**You know, I have to say I'm surprised by the reaction to Sookie's behavior last chapter. I, personally, thought it was pretty shady of her to do something like that. For those who were unsatisfied with her explanation to Eric, they'll discuss it more and her motivation will be a little clearer. She'll also explain how she got set up with Barry in the first place. I'm slowly building them toward a relationship but it just doesn't feel right to throw them in a committed relationship at this point in time. So for those who are bothered by the lack of exclusivity at this point, all I can tell you is to hang in there. When the time is right, these two will be on lockdown like WHOA. Until then, anything goes, whether it's seeing other people or playing kinky sex games haha. **

**Speaking of kinky sex...this chapter is _NOT SAFE FOR WORK _and dom!Eric is calling all the shots. So if the idea of D/s, spanking or rougher sex offends you, turn back now. Also, if you're a dirty birdy make sure you read this on your phone or at least on your lunch break, mmmkay? **

* * *

><p><strong>SPOV<strong>

"Don't ever hesitate. Don't ever question me." Eric's voice was close to my ear as his hands moved lightly over my legs. My body shivered when I felt a ripple in the air behind me and then it hits me. _He_ hits me.

"Ooooh!" I cried out and pulled away from him just a little, not quite prepared for the extra sting that came with the slap.

"Count them off and don't move, or we'll start over," he warned and forced my head down onto the table. For the first time I felt his full strength and fear raced through my body.

He slapped my bare ass with this hand four more times as I yelled out each number before he let my head up just a little. It was like a whole new side of Eric I'd never experienced before and I didn't know if I should be excited or scared of it. The slight wiggle of my hips told me I was more likely to fall on the excited side.

"Your lovely white ass is starting to pink. I like it. Makes me want to lick it," he said as he slowly massaged my heated cheeks. I felt his fingers between my legs and I bucked against his hand. "Do you know why you're being punished, Susannah?"

I shook my head because I didn't know. His fingers kept moving between my legs, pressing expertly against my clit, and getting me so close to the edge I felt my knees give out just a little.

"You brought another man here. We might not be exclusive, but only a naughty little slut would bring another man into a business owned by the man she's already fucking. Am I not doing an adequate job, Susannah?" Eric asked from behind me.

My heart leapt into my throat at the question. "You're the best sex I've ever had, Eric," I told him honestly. "You do your job very well."

"Good girl," he pinched my clit and I almost came right then.

But before I could start to enjoy it too much, the spanking resumed and I nearly forgot to count along with each swat of his hand. When we reached the eighth slap he said, "Two more Susannah and I promise you'll enjoy your reward."

Smack.

"Nine."

He stopped to run his remarkably cool hands over my burning hot bottom and I wanted to push into his fingers but I bit my lip and stayed still.

Smack.

"Ten."

"Good girl," he whispered. "You can stand up."

I did, but I kept my back to him. The heat from my red ass and the coolness of the room were sending mixed messages to my shaking body.

"Look at me," he said with authority.

I turned to him and saw the softness in his eyes when he took in the streaks from tears on my cheeks. I didn't even realize I'd started crying until he reached out and caught a tear that was rolling down my cheek. I didn't see any regret on his face but he pulled me too him and hugged me before kissing the top of my head.

"You took your punishment well, Susannah," he said softly, his hands gently caressing my back and sides. "I do believe you've earned a reward."

I smiled and looked up at him.

"What would my naughty girl like as her reward?" His eyebrows quirked when I didn't respond right away.

"I would like to take you in my mouth, Eric." I said hoping my response is what he wanted.

A pleased look spread across his face and he ordered me to unbutton his jeans. I did as I was told without hesitation, and was slightly surprised to see he was going commando. He smirked at my reaction, then turned and sat on one of the folding chairs at the far end of the table; his legs spread for me and his very hard cock sticking straight up out of his jeans.

Nervously, and on shaky legs, I walked over to him and knelt between his firmly planted legs. I ran my fingers slowly up his muscular legs, to his inner thighs, stopping just before I touch him. I removed my eyes from his so I could take in the beauty of him. He smiled down at me; his hands teasing the tops of my shoulders.

If I was with anyone else I would have thought they were trying to get me to get the show on the road, but something told me Eric's fingers caressing my bare skin and the way his eyes held mine wasn't impatience but the opposite. He wanted to feel my mouth on him but only when I was ready to for it. And with that thought, I leaned forward and kissed the tip of him.

He didn't move but I could see the desire flashing in his eyes. I stuck my tongue out and licked away the wetness at the tip, circling it around slowly. His cock jerked so I grabbed it with my left hand to hold him still. There was no way I was going to get all that in my mouth but I was going to try. I slowly licked down the underside of him, making sure to hit every inch possible. When I reached his sac, I hungrily took it in my mouth and savored the feel of it. Hot and tight; I moaned and Eric thrust in response and I licked my way back up Our eyes met as I did.

Eric moved his hands to my face, his thumbs gently caressing my cheeks. He didn't need to say a word; I knew what he was thinking. Without another thought I opened my mouth and closed it around his hard, throbbing cock. He groaned loudly and with relief. I slid down as far as I could and then back up, enjoying every detail on my tongue.

"You're so hot," he groaned as I slid down again, this time massaging my tongue along the underside as I moved. "So fucking hot." With his words I sucked in my cheeks and begin to thrust up and down; my tongue massaged his large cock as my mouth sucked hard. I watched as his head dropped back; his eyes fluttered and I knew I was doing something right. I reached under his legs and began to massage his sac with one hand while gently squeezing the bottom of his shaft with the other. An electric shock of pleasure coursed through me when I felt him tense and groan again.

I could only get a little over half of him in my mouth but each time I lowered my head I tried to get him a little further, and each time I was rewarded with a groan of pleasure.

"Relax your throat," he instructed through gritted teeth. I did as I was told and felt him slip down my throat. Was it really that simple, or had I always been able to do it and I was just too scared to try? He convulsed in my throat, causing me to moan around him, vibrating against his hard erection. "Fuck," he swore and pulled out of my mouth.

I pouted, not nearly finished with him yet, and moved to suck him back in but Eric was faster and had already pulled me to my feet. His mouth crashed down on mine.

"As much as I enjoy your hot, wet mouth, there's some place else I'd like to finish tonight," he groaned against my lips.

**EPOV**

I don't know what it was about her that brought out that part of me I didn't even know existed until I met her. Whenever I got near Sookie I felt the simultaneous urge to possess and protect her. I wanted her in ways I couldn't recall ever wanting anyone else. Hearing that she was seeing someone else, even though we weren't officially a couple, had pissed me off. It also stung quite a bit and made me wonder if I was just one of many.

Granted, just because she was on a shitty date with some lame guy who couldn't keep her attention, it didn't mean she was fucking him. In fact, based on how easily she complied with my commands, I was willing to bet the awful date was never in a millions years going to get a chance to tap the gorgeous ass sticking up round and proud a few feet away.

I found it interesting that while I didn't seem to have much trouble controlling her, sexually speaking, I had a really hard time controlling myself. I responded to her like a teenage boy would, getting hard at the mere sight of her, let alone what physical contact had the power to do to me. I contemplated proper punishment for a few moments before deciding to stick with what worked. Maybe the better punishment would have been to turn her away before she got the orgasm she so obviously wanted from me, but that would mean denying myself as well and I wasn't about to turn her out on the street to find someone else.

I used just a little more force than I did the last time I spanked her, and she responded to it. The first swat caught her completely off guard and she'd jumped a little when my hand landed on her beautiful ass. What started as a yelp quickly became a moan and as she was told to do, she counted each and every smack that landed on her pinking backside. I promised her a reward for taking the last two swats like the good girl I knew she could be, but really, the reward would be for us both.

When it was over and she stood up straight, I heard a quiet sniffle come from her. I turned her around to face me and panicked a little internally at the tears on her cheeks. I cursed myself for hurting her enough that it made her cry since that wasn't my intention, but I calmed down when I remembered what she said about letting me know if I had gone too far. She hadn't complained or told me I was being too rough. I hugged her as much for myself as I did for her. She folded perfectly into my arms and I heard her breathe me in.

"What would my naughty girl like as her reward?" I asked, expecting her to tell me she wanted me to fuck her or go down on her.

Instead she said, "I would like to take you in my mouth, Eric."

I smiled in pleasant surprise at her request and told her to pop the fly of my jeans. Without hesitation she did as I told her to and the look on her face when she realized I'd foregone boxers was borderline priceless. She didn't know it, but I rarely bothered with boxers. I'd worn them when I knew I was going to see her because it meant there was one more layer of clothing to get through before we got to each other and part of the fun in sex was getting each other's clothes off.

The way she was staring at me, it was difficult to keep any sort of concentration. She licked her lips and the action was definitely noticed by my cock, since it jumped in anticipation of being near those lips soon. Those lips were still slightly swollen from the kissing out in the alley and while I wanted to kiss them again to see just how swollen they were, I had promised her a reward and she hadn't chosen kissing.

I managed to sit in one of the folding chairs and I could feel the cold metal through the thin layer of material that was my t-shirt. She moved toward me slowly but not because she was hesitating. Sookie dropped to her knees between my spread legs and took her time getting to my cock. She was perfectly good at giving head already but I knew with a little practice, she could be one of the greats. She always seemed to be trying to outdo herself, although whether that was for my benefit or her own, I wasn't sure and I wasn't dumb enough to ask.

My fingers teased her shoulders only to keep my hands from tangling in her hair. I would never force her head down without her permission. To me there was nothing sexy about a girl gagging or choking while sucking dick and I wanted Sookie to enjoy it as much as I did. I hated girls who gave half assed blowjobs because they thought it would impress me, like I couldn't tell they hated what they were doing or something. I watched as she took her time, licking, stroking and teasing until _she_ decided the time was right and finally closed her lips around my cock.

And fuck, was it worth the wait. Her head started to bob steadily and I could tell she was trying to take me further than she had in the past but couldn't get that hot little mouth of hers to cooperate. "Relax your throat," I said through gritted teeth and I was rewarded handsomely for my instruction.

She relaxed and while she still didn't get all of me into her mouth, she definitely got farther than ever before. I grabbed onto the seat of the chair to keep from thrusting up too hard. I was close to cumming and when she moaned, I cursed. "Fuck," I groaned and gently pushed her off of me.

She looked up with a pout on her face, clearly concerned she'd done something wrong when nothing could be further from the truth. She'd done everything right and it brought out this possessive urge in me. I wanted to mark her, and not just with little spots on her neck, but in a more primal way. She was moving to resume her task but instead I pulled her up to her feet. She looked at me with that same confusion on her beautiful face and she was breathing hard, her breasts heaving with each deep breath she took.

Before she could say anything I leaned down and kissed her hard, finally getting to find out just how swollen those pouty lips of hers really were. She moaned as she settled into the kiss but before we could find a rhythm with our tongues, I pulled away from her. She was panting and her little fingernails were digging into my arms.

"As much as I enjoy your hot, wet mouth, there's some place else I'd like to finish tonight," I groaned against her lips.

She whimpered but didn't fight it when I pushed her toward the table just two steps behind her. She fell back against the wood veneer, her legs spreading automatically for me to stand between them. The table was the perfect height for me to fuck her on, and I planned to use it to my advantage. I whipped off my t-shirt and tossed it to the far end of the table before reaching for her hands.

"Keep them here," I told her when I clasped them around the table's edge. She was in for a wild ride but she didn't seem at all frightened by it. In fact, her hips started to roll and her skirt rode up as a result.

As much as I wanted her naked and to be able to see every part of her while I fucked her, I knew that wasn't possible given the location. The old storeroom I was in was rarely ever used and I wasn't particularly worried about being walked in on, but Pam had a tendency to get nosy and I wouldn't put it past her to go looking for me since she seemed to know Sookie was on the premises. She had to since Pam was working the door when Sookie arrived.

I placed one last kiss on the side of Sookie's neck at the spot I knew drove her crazy. Her hips lifted and her wet center brushed against my cock. I could think of a hundred different things I wanted to do to her right in that moment, but tasting her took priority. Being around her was always like being on sensory overload, even if she was fully dressed, but being able to smell just how turned on she was made it impossible for me to think about anything other than how good she tasted.

If we kept on like we were, a night would come when I would tie her to my bed and go down on her for hours. She'd let me know over and over again I had more than enough skill to get her off but what she didn't know was that it wasn't a skill I practiced on many women. The few I had used as test dummies, so to speak, were women I'd been in relationships with. One night stands didn't get that treatment, but then again, they didn't usually care. They were in it just long enough for an orgasm and they didn't care how they got it.

With Sookie, however, I found myself interested in experimenting with new things, which is how she ended up being bent over the table and spanked like a naughty school girl caught smoking in the bathroom by the headmaster. I knelt down between her open thighs and kissed the inside of them, slowly making my way to her center. I breathed her in and then put my tongue to work. Her thighs slipped over my shoulders and it didn't take long before they were clenching around my head in attempts to get more friction.

Just out of curiosity, since I hadn't done it yet, I started to move my tongue over her clit one letter of the alphabet at a time. I paid close attention to which letters got the most reaction from her and it seemed H, M and Z were the favorites. Of course, O didn't fare so badly either. After going through the alphabet a second time I plunged two fingers inside her and Sookie's back arched, forcing her breasts skyward. I couldn't see her eyes but I didn't need to. The way her thighs were shaking and her core was clamping down, I knew she was close to finishing.

I pulled away suddenly because I wanted her to finish with my cock inside her. Feeling her cum that way was almost addictive. She groaned in frustration, having been so close to the release she needed, only to have it be denied to her.

"That's just mean," she pouted, her hands still holding onto the edge of the table where I'd put them minutes before.

I unlocked her legs from around my neck and stood up slowly, stroking myself as I did so. She whimpered, seeing how hard I was. She bit her bottom lip and tried to scoot farther down the table. I brought her legs up so they were hanging over my elbows and her hips arched off the table again as much as she could. I could see beads of sweat had already formed on her neck and forehead. I could have spent all night teasing her, bringing her to the edge and then down again but there wasn't time for that.

"Fuck me," she groaned, her hips wiggling before me and her hand reaching down to put my cock at her entrance.

Before she could touch me, however, I grabbed her hand and said, "I don't remember telling you to let go of the table, Susannah." I flipped her over, put her hand back on the edge of the table and slapped her still pink ass. Her cry died as a moan and her thighs clenched together. "Defy me again and I won't let you cum," I warned her.

"Yes Sir," she looked over her shoulder at me.

I pushed her legs apart and rubbed my cock over her slit. She moaned and rolled her hips again, waiting for me to enter her. The desire to possess her returned and if my mental clock was right, I had about five minutes before Pam started looking for me. Since there wasn't anymore time to waste, I pushed inside Sookie and felt her clamp down immediately. I leaned forward to hold onto her shoulders while I pounded into her and she tried to back her ass up to meet my thrusts but it wasn't easy since she seemed determined to hold onto the table.

"Do you like it when I fuck you hard, Sookie?" I whispered in her ear and she moaned. "Say it."

"Yes," she gasped. "I love it when you fuck me hard."

I growled and went a little harder. The smell of sex filled the room and there was the faint sound of the music being played below, accompanied by the sound of flesh slapping against flesh. Knowing I would smell like her for the rest of the night would make work far more pleasant. I knew her taste would remain on my tongue long after she'd gone home and I planned to leave her a souvenir of her own to take with her.

"Harder, Eric," she pleaded under me, with the table scuffing along the old wooden floor. "Yes! Right there! Yes, yes! Oh God! Don't stop!"

I was getting close myself and I reached around to rub her clit in the Z pattern that had driven her crazy and she screamed in surprise, which was quite delightful for me since I wasn't expecting that particular reaction from her. "Are you close, Sookie?"

"So close," she moaned again and I could feel the fluttering of her muscles, a clear warning she was very close indeed.

"So am I," I bit her shoulder and flicked my tongue over her salty skin. Her hips lifted a little higher off the table but didn't stay up for long. "Hold on tight, lover."

I stood up straight, grabbed onto her hips and used fast, hard strokes. With the tilt of her hips to the new angle she was nearly screaming on every thrust and when she came, it was with a shout of my name and then a silent scream followed it. Her body shook and convulsed with the waves of pleasure rolling through her, and the squeezing of her pussy around my cock milked my orgasm from me. I came hard inside her and with a near death grip on her beautifully rounded hips.

I attacked the back of her neck with kisses and little bites and made her core tighten around me again. I wanted to stay buried in her but I knew I couldn't. I had to get back to work and she either had to get back to her date, or go home. At the moment, I wasn't sure which I wanted more since she would go back to her date with my cum inside her. I pulled out reluctantly and told her she could let go of the table.

She gave this lazy laugh; the laugh of a woman who had cum too hard. Her brain wasn't functioning properly yet but she'd be fine in a few minutes. I got myself dressed again while I waited for her to come around. When she did, she pushed herself up slowly on her wobbling legs. Her brain was back but the rest of her was still off somewhere else. She smiled at me and pulled me closer to her.

"Thank you. I needed that," she told me before pulling my face to hers to kiss me.

"You're welcome," I said against her lips and kissed her back. "I have to get back to work but there are two things I want to tell you before I walk you out."

"Shoot," she leaned against the table.

"First of all, I know we aren't exclusive and but I really would appreciate it if you didn't bring your dates here. I don't really want the visual of you fucking another man in my head," I told her and she looked properly chastised. "Second, I'm keeping your panties. I like the idea of you walking around for the rest of the night all wet and without that line of defense."

She gasped, clearly not prepared for the second part of what I had to say. "Is that punishment for moving my hand?"

I smiled at her and said, "I hadn't considered that, but now that you mention it, I guess I do owe you a something for that little infraction."

"Keeping my panties doesn't count?" she asked skeptically.

"No, it doesn't because I always planned on keeping them. If you choose to go back to your date now," I stepped closer to her and ran my hand up her thigh and under her skirt to touch her swollen lips, causing her to gasp again. "You'll have to do it with me dripping out of you."

She groaned and the fire in her eyes told me she wanted more. "You don't play fair," she said, which was funny considering how the whole thing started.

"Lover, I think this is what's known as meeting one's match," I leaned down and kissed her again.

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><p><strong>Anyone still with me, or should I break out the smelling salts? Line for a cold shower forms to the left, btw. If you're lucky, Eric'll still be in there. It's where he spends his time when I'm not writing this story. Poor guy has it bad. Like I said, we'll get more into the relationship talk in the coming chapters but I can't guarantee it'll happen right away but when the time is right, it will. Putting them together out of jealousy is a bad idea, imo, and I doubt it would end well if that's the reason they got started. Anyway...thanks for reading!<strong>


	10. For Your Consideration

**For those of you hungering for more of a personal connection and a little less smut, this chapter is for you...**

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><p><strong>SPOV<strong>

"Lover, I think this is what's known as meeting one's match," Eric's words staying in my mind long after we parted company.

I apologized for my error in judgment by bringing Barry along with me. I didn't think I'd done it with the intention of making Eric jealous, or because I wanted to make him feel bad but I could understand why both of those things would happen, or why _he_ might think I had. It was one thing for him to walk into the same restaurant where Barry and I had been having dinner but it was quite another for me to intentionally bring Barry onto what was clearly Eric's turf. I was a little ashamed of myself and exclusive or not, I knew I was wrong. Couldn't I just chock it up to my brain going all wonky when I started thinking about the sex? Surely that was a reasonable defense.

"I know you have to get back to work but before you go, I just want you to know this date was a favor for my Gran. I'm not interested in Barry at all. She asked me to go out with him, thinking we'd make a cute couple and I have a hard time saying no to her after all she's done for me. The minute I laid eyes on him I knew it wasn't going to go anywhere. In fact, he met someone else while we were down at the bar so that puts and end to that. I came here because I wanted to see _you_. Seeing you makes me happy. So I was selfish in what I did, but there it is." I confessed to him and watched his expression change from one of smugness, to slightly wounded and then happy.

"Seeing you makes me happy too," he said through his smile. "And just so we're clear, because this is going to bother me for the rest of the night if I don't ask, I didn't hurt you, did I?"

Right, my tears. I shook my head and said, "No, you didn't hurt me. I didn't even realize I was crying until I stood up. I think that had more to do with being embarrassed for bringing Barry here than it did anything else. Trust me, if it was too much I would have told you so."

"Good," he looked relieved. "I don't mind getting rough but I don't want to abuse you either and I don't want you to regret it later."

I leaned forward and kissed him before saying, "Eric, it's fine. That was…that was amazing."

He kissed me back and we stayed that way until he reluctantly pulled back. "I hate to ditch you but I have to get back to work before Pam comes looking for us."

"It's fine. I got what I came for," I winked at him and straightened my dress.

Eric barked out one of those laughs of his, nodded his agreement and walked me downstairs. I stuck around for a little while to watch some of the show but ultimately decided it was tacky to be walking around in a short skirt without panties after being so fantastically sexed. I caught Eric's eye once more on my way out and blew him a kiss before stepping out of his line of sight.

I decided I would make it up to him since he hadn't canceled our dinner plans for the following evening. Eric wouldn't tell me where we were going. All he would say was that casual dress was more than acceptable. A plan started to formulate in my head and by the time I got home that night, I was buzzing with excitement. It was kind of refreshing, not really having pressure on me to make things work with Eric. I couldn't say we were taking it slow, exactly, since every time I saw him I ended up having my brains fucked out, but it's not like I was expecting him to put a ring on it either.

I woke up the next morning, still feeling a slight buzz from the night before. Eric's words kept playing over and over in my head and I couldn't help but wonder if he was right. I really didn't want to think about it too much. If, or when, there came a time when I felt like I wanted something more, then it was something to consider. Then again, I could be taking his comment completely out of context. I seemed to be romanticizing it, which, right there made me a little uncomfortable. Maybe all he meant was that we challenged each other sexually.

Lord knew my ability to control myself seemed to go out the window every time I got close to Eric. Common sense, decency and the morals I'd been raised with just flew right out the window. It didn't even bother me that my ass was still a little sore from the spanking I'd received the night before. His reaction to my tears wasn't unexpected. I wasn't even sure why I had started crying. It hurt, yes, that was a part of it, but I think it had more to do with my shame for hurting _him_ in the first place.

The rule of bringing someone else around when he was essentially _right there_ shouldn't have to be spoken. I knew I didn't want to think about him fucking another woman. I didn't even want to think of him flirting with another woman. And yet, I'd gone and flaunted it, somewhat, right under his nose. I thought about all this while I walked to work, but forced myself to switch gears before going into the building.

At least one of us owners was always on the premises of the business while the store was open. I preferred to work mid-day hours since the store was a little quieter then. Not to mention, since I seemed to have taken up the human resources role in running the place, that was the best time to contact prospective new employees, complete payroll and do all the other little office things that needed to be done. I made the schedules, handled time off requests and paid the bills. I was good at keeping track of things like that, and was easily the most reliable when it came to making sure the real business end of the business flowed.

I left it to Amelia and Lafayette, who were more comfortable being in the spotlight, to handle promotions and dealing with people. Not that I didn't handle my fair share of customers over the years, but I didn't need the attention the same way they did. I liked to do my job well and go home. Thankfully it was just Maria Starr running the floor when I got in. She was behind the register, changing the receipt tape when I walked in.

"Morning, Maria," I waved at her as I walked past a display of vampire themed coffee mugs I had been against selling since it was a little too trendy for my taste, but I'd been outvoted by the others.

"Hey, Sook! How was your night?" she asked in her usual perky manner.

I smirked while I thought about it. How would I describe the previous night? "Well, it was…the date was awful, but the concert was amazing." I was safe with that.

"Oh yeah? Who'd you see?" she asked while fiddling with the tricky register that no one but Lafayette seemed to have an easy time with. Swear to God, you had to find that damn thing's g-spot in order to get the register tape to slide in right.

Shit. Who was playing last night? The name of the band escaped me, making me flustered. I probably could have made up anything but I knew Maria Starr frequented the place. Why the fuck couldn't I think of the band's name? The longer I took to come up with a name, the stranger the expression on Maria's face became.

"Well at least tell me if the band was any good," Maria giggled at me.

Did I not just say they were amazing? I wanted to roll my eyes but I didn't. Instead I said, "Yes, they were great. I don't know why I can't think of the name right now. I've seen them before. They've got two other shows going tonight and tomorrow."

"Sweet. Maybe I'll check them out," she smiled at me briefly before going back to the register tape. "I hate this fucking thing."

I grinned at her curse since Maria Starr had the cleanest mouth of all of us. It was actually endearing to watch her find PG ways to say dirty things when the rest of us just let it all hang out. I was about to head up the back stairs to the offices when she stopped me to let me know Tommy was looking for me. He had some question about his last paycheck I knew he would come see me about eventually. I groaned and headed up the stairs after thanking her for the warning.

What I wasn't expecting when I got up there was Pam. I thought it would be way too early for her, considering it was just after ten and I knew Shakespeare's Sister didn't close until two. After that, there was clean up, receipts to tally and whatever else they did before sending everyone home for the night. I was willing to bet she didn't get to bed until close to five, assuming she went to sleep at all. Sometimes with Pam, it was hard to tell. She could be robotic one minute and completely animated and full of life the next.

"Morning, Princess," Pam gave me one of those terrifying smiles that told me she had something we definitely needed to discuss.

"Hey Pam," I sighed and took a drink of my coffee, only to wish I'd tossed a shot of Bailey's in it. "You're up early."

She snorted a very unladylike snort and said, "I haven't been to bed yet, cupcake."

"Oh," I motioned for her to follow me toward my office.

I kept my space sectioned off from everyone else's since I had all the employee files and financial information in my possession. The employees didn't need to be going through payroll records or anything of the sort. Confidentiality was a big deal to me and I was strict about enforcing it. I saw Tommy sitting in a chair in the break area and apologized to Pam before leaving her in my office to take care of the issue Tommy had.

"Hey Tommy. Maria said you wanted to talk to me?" I sat down in a chair across from his.

"Yeah, I was short almost two hours on my last check," he glared at me accusingly.

"Yes, I know you were and I believe Lafayette told you that even though you were punching in from your lunch break on time, you weren't getting back on the floor until about fifteen minutes after that because you were making personal calls. Am I right?" I reminded him and he just continued to glare at me. "Look, Tommy, we don't mind you making a few calls here and there but it happens a little too often. Not to mention you've been warned about texting on the clock. If you're here to work, then we expect you to work. We're not paying you to check your Facebook, watch Youtube videos or tweet your girlfriend. So just follow the rules and we won't be having this talk again next week."

I waited for Tommy to say something but he just kept quiet, staring angrily at the ground instead of at me. I shrugged, got up and started back toward my office. I heard him quietly mutter, "Bet we wouldn't be having this talk if I was Preston."

I took a deep breath and shook it off, knowing Tommy was just trying to get a rise out of me. Preston was one the tattoo artists we had on staff and it was no secret I thought he was talented. He was a great artist, with or without a needle in his hand. I could describe something to him and he could draw it up perfectly. We'd gone on a handful of dates but nothing much had ever come from them. We never slept together and we'd come to the conclusion we were better suited to just be friends.

All the same, rumors flew around because it was the nature of the beast. I knew it was a lot of assuming and people being nosy. I didn't really discuss my personal life a whole lot at work. I preferred to keep the two separate from one another as much as possible. Perhaps, more accurately, I didn't talk with the _staff_ about my personal life very much. I was friends with Maria, Amelia and Lafayette, otherwise we wouldn't own the business together.

I returned to my office to find Pam sitting in my chair and filing her nails. Rather than asking her to move, I took what was the guest seat after closing my office door. "So, what can I do for you, Pam?"

Without looking up from her nails she said, "Eric's been through a lot. I don't generally make it a point to get involved with his love life but he can be a helpless idiot where that's concerned and even if he won't admit it yet, he wants something permanent. I don't know what you two are doing but I do know if you ever bring another date to my bar while you're still seeing my partner, and best friend, it won't end well for you."

"Are you threatening me, Pam?" I raised an eyebrow.

"Well I'm not stitching a sampler," she looked up at me. "I also happen to know that you're looking for someone you want to have a real relationship with. Since I'm not your type," Pam winked at me which made me smile and shake my head. "I figured you'd be perfect for Eric. You two have a lot in common and based on the noises coming through the earpiece last night, I'd say it doesn't end with that pretty blond hair and deep blue eyes."

I wasn't generally much of a blusher, but Pam got me there. "You heard us?"

Pam gave another one of those creepy ass grins and said, "Not just me, sugar tits, the entire security staff. You were a very naughty girl."

Oh. Dear. God.

**EPOV**

I woke up from an extremely sexually charged dream that featured Sookie giving me a lapdance in the dress she'd been wearing the night before after the bar closed down. My alarm went off just as her still slightly pink ass was about to grind into my crotch and I woke up pissed off that I was pulled from the dream, and also because I was alone. As much as I wanted to hit the snooze button and try to get back to my dream, I knew it wouldn't work. I also knew I had plenty to do before meeting Sookie.

My first stop was the shower, since willing away the hard-on caused by my dream wasn't an option. Never in the past was I so immediately and intensely turned on by one woman. She was beautiful, of course, but after getting to know her a little better I knew my arousal wasn't just about the way she looked. Yes, I craved the way she tasted and I loved the way it felt being inside her but it was more than that. She had interesting things to say and she kept me on my toes. She presented somewhat of a challenge to me which was a refreshing change of pace.

The idea of her being with someone else was something I couldn't quite stomach and yet, I was afraid to mention the idea of us being something more than just fuck buddies. A little voice in my head told me not to ruin a good thing. We were having fun doing whatever the fuck it was we were doing, which was mostly fucking. There was no need to rush into something else. Why not just take it one step at a time and see how things played out?

While I suppose, in some manner, I was thankful she'd told me the truth the night before about being on a date with someone else and still coming to see me; I didn't really want to know about it. I was relieved when she'd told me how awful the date was and she'd only done it as a favor to her beloved Gran. I had no reason to think she was lying to me since she had been honest about everything else. All the same, I didn't like it.

She had apologized profusely for her error in judgment and although I had accepted her apology I still wondered what she could have been thinking by bringing her date along with her. That part had gone unexplained. Maybe it didn't matter in the grand scheme of things, or maybe this was the beginning of a pattern. I didn't want to play games with her. If we were going to keep it casual, I could do that as long as I didn't have to see whoever else she was involved with. If what she was aiming for was to make me jealous, that was a serious problem.

I was at a point where I could go either way with her and I was sure if she said she wanted a real relationship and not just sex with the occasional conversation, I would be just fine with that. In fact, I was pretty sure I would enjoy being in a relationship with someone like her. We had enough in common that I wouldn't have to worry about fighting her for control of the radio in the car, nor would we have too many arguments over which movies to watch on quiet nights at home.

In short, Sookie might actually be perfect for me just as Pam said she was. Telling Pam that, however, would practically be a suicide move. Pam already thought she knew everything. I didn't need to feed that ego of hers.

I brushed my teeth while waiting for the shower to warm up a little and went over my checklist for all the things I needed to do before going to Sookie's to pick her up. My apartment was clean thanks to the cleaning lady that came once a week to tidy things up. I was generally pretty neat all on my own but I despised washing windows and toilets. While I knew how to cook—which would come in handy later- I wasn't really home often enough to do it myself so the bulk of what was in my fridge was leftover takeout.

That was about to change, however, since a trip to the grocery store was in order as soon as I was showered and dressed. But first the first order of business was taking care of the aching wood I was sporting. I got into the shower and closed my eyes, letting the rain-like spray fall on me from the ceiling. The shower was easily big enough for three and custom designed just for that purpose. There were three shower heads, two of which were at either end of the stall just like you would see in any other shower and the third was a larger disc hanging from the ceiling at the center of the stall.

The water was the perfect temperature as it fell from the ceiling and within moments, I was transported back to the moment in my dream just before I'd woken up. Of course, my brain made the clever adjustment of having Sookie naked instead of in that dress, although I definitely wanted to see that dress again-preferably on my bedroom floor. The images in my mind shifted and while I watched her lapdance play out, I stroked myself expertly until I came with a jerk, shooting my load down the drain.

With that out of my system—literally- I went about cleaning myself up. I stepped out the shower a few minutes later and debated over whether or not to shave. She seemed to enjoy it more when I didn't, so I skipped it. I dressed quickly in a pair of comfortable jeans and a white button down shirt. I'd told Sookie dressing up wasn't necessary and since I planned on making her dinner, she really didn't need to.

Thanks to our first date I knew she wasn't very picky when it came to food. She'd polished off everything she'd ordered for herself and had even picked at my fries in spite of having sermonized on the evil nature of the carbohydrate. I was impressed with her general opinion of food since most girls seemed to be afraid of eating anything that didn't have the words 'diet,' 'low fat,' or 'fat free' stamped somewhere on the container it came in.

"I'm a southern girl and I grew up on my Gran's cooking. There's no way to make real fried chicken without it being greasy. I figure I only get one go at life so I might as well enjoy it. If that means I have a little extra junk in my trunk, I can live with that. I'd rather be curvy than a stick figure anyway," she'd told me.

Like I said, she might be perfect for me. I couldn't stand stick figures either and I had been impressed by the food she had managed to put away. Even better was that she'd done it without a single apology. After a lot of debate and thought I was pretty sure I'd come up with the ideal meal to make for her my first time out.

I shopped quickly and returned to my apartment right away to get all the groceries in my fridge. Not only did I buy things for dinner, but for breakfast as well. Not that I was expecting her to stay the night but I wanted to be prepared in case she did. For that reason, I also bought a spare toothbrush. I didn't know her feelings on the matter, but there were few things worse than waking up next to someone and finding out they had extreme morning breath. I wasn't sure about her since I'd only woken up next to her once and by the time I caught her in the shower, it wasn't an issue.

Before I knew it, it was time to head over to her apartment to pick her up. I walked over to her place and told myself there was nothing to be nervous about. It was just dinner, really, and if we had a horrible time one of two things was going to happen: either we'd cover up the awkwardness with amazing sex, or she'd go home. I pushed away the negativity as I buzzed her apartment.

"Hello?" she said from six floors up,

"It's Eric," I said into the speaker.

"I'll be right down," she said but didn't buzz me in.

I wasn't sure what to make of that. Maybe she'd thought it over and decided after the way I'd roughed her up the night before, she wasn't interested in me after all. Maybe I'd taken it a step too far. Her tears had caught me completely off guard and while her words told me it wasn't too much, that didn't mean she couldn't have changed her mind. Then, on top of that, the sex itself hadn't exactly been gentle or forgiving.

Fuck, I was conflicted when it came to her. It was almost like she caused me to split into two people. One of me wanted to fall in love with her, protect her and make sure she knew how special she was. The other version of me wanted to own her, control her and keep her away from everyone else so I wouldn't lose her. I needed to find a balance between those two, and I needed to do it quickly before I completely fucked everything up.

I was pacing in front of her building when she came out dressed in a pair of those pants that looked like tights but weren't, and stopped a few inches below her knees. She had on a black and ivory tank top that kept her excellent cleavage at bay, which was going to make the rest of the night a little easier for me. Her hair was down in loose waves and her glasses were perched on the bridge of her nose. Perfectly painted toes peeked out from the shoes she was wearing and I hoped there was a change of clothes stashed in the ridiculously large purse she was carrying.

"You look beautiful," I smiled at her and she smiled back.

"Thanks," she said, taking in my appearance as well. "I hope I'm not overdressed."

"No, not at all. You look great," I nodded and reached for her hand. Her smile grew a little and she reached for mine in exchange.

"So where are we going?" she asked as we started down the street.

"It's a new place; very exclusive," I told her, earning me an arched eyebrow.

"And I'm okay going in there dressed like this?" she seemed surprised.

"Totally. In fact, I think the management would approve of less clothing, for future reference," I grinned at her and a second later the lights of revelation went on in her eyes.

"We're going to your place, aren't we?" she stopped walking, forcing me to stop as well.

"Is that a problem?"

"I thought this was a date?"

"It is. It just so happens, I thought I'd cook."

"You can cook?" Now she really looked shocked.

"Of course I can. I was raised by a single mother, remember?" My mother really had taught me everything she knew. Not just out of necessity but because she didn't want me to be a slouch husband when I got older and I explained as much to Sookie.

She looked a little sad for a moment and said, "I would be delighted to have dinner at your place."

"Good, because I went shopping this afternoon just for the occasion," I said and tugged her along.

"So, Chef Eric, what's on the menu?" she asked as we crossed the street, taking us one block closer to the rest of our night.

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><p><strong>Alright, baby birds, I hope that cleared the air enough for you, for at least the time being. Sookie explained herself a little bit more and in the coming chapters there will be A LOT of conversation with limited nudity. What did y'all think of Pam intervening on Eric's behalf? Was that the act of a good friend or someone sticking their nose in where it didn't belong? I'm sort of on the fence with it myself but then I get annoyed when I'm given unsolicited advice. Sookie seems to have taken it better than I would have. Hope everyone has a fantastic weekend! Thanks for reading!<strong>


	11. The Lion's Den

**SPOV**

I'll admit, I was caught off guard when Eric suggested cooking me dinner instead of going out somewhere. Even more surprising is that I didn't sense any sexual undertones in his proposal. I was starting to wonder if I'd put on dirty girl lingerie for nothing when his hand settled very low on my back. So low, in fact, two of his fingers were definitely on my ass. I bit back a smile and tried to keep pace with him. It was a task hard enough barefoot and only made more difficult in the strappy wedge sandals I was wearing.

It didn't take us long to reach Eric's apartment building. The lobby alone set the tone for what I was going to find in his apartment with all the marble and gold fixtures all over the place. There was even a fountain down there, for crying out loud. The smell of Starbucks filled my nose and it took all my will power to bypass the caffeinated goodness in favor of Eric's place. We rode up on the elevator to the sixteenth floor, which just happened to be the top floor of the building. Figures the tall guy would appreciate a good view.

"How long have you lived here?" I asked him as we walked down the hall to apartment 1608 and came to an abrupt stop.

"Almost three years. I had to wait for everything to be installed," he explained.

"Installed?" I arched an eyebrow and for some reason, the image of a sex dungeon popped into my mind. I quickly chased that thought away, but knew I'd be either laughing over it or pondering it later; maybe both.

"You'll see," he winked, not at all helping to soothe whatever worry I might have been battling just then.

He opened the door and gestured for me to walk ahead of him. The entryway was pretty much what I would expect for any apartment. What I assumed to be a coat closet was hidden by accordion doors to the left. The floors were wide plank hardwood and stained an espresso color. There was a powder room off the hallway and at the end of the hall, I found myself in the living room. Immediately, I saw the view and understood why Eric had chosen the apartment.

"Oh wow," I stood staring out the large windows that provided a view of pretty much the entire downtown area. "Eric, this is amazing."

I was too busy staring outside to see for myself, but I could hear the smile in his voice when he asked, "Like that, do you?"

"Uh huh," I mumbled and walked forward toward the windows.

There was a sliding glass door in the dining room area that led out to a decent size balcony where he had a mountain bike, a grill and a pair of chairs. He even had a pair of flower boxes mounted on the railing with herbs growing from them, which I wasn't expecting to see. I stared for a few minutes, watching people walking on the sidewalks down below and the sporadic stream of cars rolling from one stoplight to the next. I couldn't wait until sunset when I realized the windows were facing west.

The apartment was full of clean lines and was pretty modern in its décor. The sofa was sort of boxy, considering how cushy it looked. I ran my fingers over the soft micro-suede it was upholstered with in a dark charcoal gray color. The tables were all wooden and just a shade lighter than the floors. A large flatscreen TV was hanging on the wall ahead of the couch and large chair that matched the couch was facing the windows that pretty much occupied an entire wall. A series of bookcases were lined up perfectly behind the couch and were filled with books about all different things. I would have to inspect the shelves later since I was being pulled along.

The dining room table had a large piece of glass dropped into the center and chairs with high, straight backs stood like sentinels, guarding the table. Art Deco prints from the 30's hung on the walls and I was relieved to see he didn't have any mass produced prints of Monet, Van Gogh or Picasso on the walls. I hated those with a passion.

"You like Art Deco?" I smiled over at him.

"I like color," he said which seemed to be a contradiction considering the monotone choices of furniture so far, but then I was thrust into the kitchen and I gasped.

"My Gran would kill for a kitchen like this!" I spun around slowly, taking in the crimson walls and gleaming silver appliances. "Have you ever cooked in here?"

"Not as often as I'd like but it's hard to cook for just one," Eric said, which I could completely relate to. "Hopefully I won't have to do that too often anymore."

I got a bit flustered by that comment and slapped on my emergency smile. Not that I was necessarily against spending more time with Eric, or even taking our relationship a little more seriously… I just wasn't really ready to think about all that yet. Still, it was sort of nice to know where he stood on the matter.

"Do you cook?" he asked while I continued to look around.

"Are you kidding me?" I looked over my shoulder with a smirk. "I could bake a peach cobbler before I could do algebra."

"That's definitely a more useful skill than algebra anyway," Eric snickered and I had to agree with that. I hadn't needed to be able to find the value of X since I was fifteen, and even then I knew it was a useless skill. Got an A in the class anyway.

"So," I turned around to face him. "Do I get to see where you sleep?"

"I thought I'd save that for later," he opened the fridge. "Thirsty?"

"What'cha got?" I walked over to where he was standing and peered inside. "You weren't kidding about the shopping. Is there anything left in the store?"

Just about anything I could possibly want to drink was staring back at me. As nice as a glass of wine might have been I decided I needed to keep a sober head about me and opted for a glass of iced tea instead. Eric pulled the pitcher from the fridge and went to a cabinet to get two glasses down.

"Hope you don't mind it's sweetened," he said when he handed me my glass.

"Is there any other way to drink it?" I said and took a sip.

"Not as far as I'm concerned," he said after taking a drink himself. "So, are you hungry now or do you want to look around a bit more?"

"I can be nosy later. Food sounds good. Can I do anything to help?" I offered since it was the polite thing to do and also because there was a part of me that doubted he really did have the ability to cook and I didn't want to end up with food poisoning.

"How about you go pick the music? I've got vinyl and an iPod out in the living room," he suggested.

I grinned and said, "I feel like this is a test."

He smiled back and said, "It is."

I shook my head but kept on smiling as I walked into the living room. Eric had an extensive collection of records neatly organized on a large set of shelves opposite the wall of windows. My fingers ran along the spines of the albums while I tried to figure out what the right music was for the occasion. I grinned when I saw a Van Morrison's _Moondance_ album. I pulled the sleeve from its place and slid the record out. I lifted the lid of the turntable and put the record down. A knob to the right clicked into place at the slightest touch and the record began to spin. I lifted the needle and gently set it down on the record.

I loved the folksy, jazzy sound of the record and I smiled as I retreated toward the kitchen thinking I had picked the right album. The smile on Eric's face when I walked into the kitchen confirmed my suspicion. "Good choice," he looked up from the pile of dough he had in front of him.

"Thank you. I thought so," I curtsied just a little and made my way over to him. "Okay, so seriously, put me to work."

"Well, I guess it depends on what you want on your pizza," he told me and headed over to the fridge.

"What do you have?" I asked while he started pulling all sorts of things from the fridge.

"Jesus, you really did buy out the store, didn't you?" I laughed when three armloads of food later, he still wasn't finished.

"I wanted to make sure I had all my bases covered," he shrugged and grabbed a small tub of ricotta cheese from the door before reaching for a jar of olives.

"I'm not that high maintenance, Eric," I inspected my options. "Usually I'm just a pepperoni and onion kind of girl."

"Got it," he held up pepperoni and then a bag with three different kinds of onion inside.

"At least you're thorough," I smiled over at him. I should have known that based on his bedroom prowess. That would teach me to underestimate him.

"I aim to please," he said with a smirk and a pointed stare.

"I guess that makes you a sharp shooter," I snorted and Eric leaned into me a little.

"Any time you want to attend target practice, just let me know," his eyes met mine and I thought he might kiss me but instead he pulled back. "So, red sauce or olive oil?" he rubbed his hands together.

**EPOV**

I liked the look of Sookie in my kitchen. She moved around like she belonged there. I'd hinted to the possibility of having her around more and there was definitely a slight panic that crossed her pretty face. I wasn't quite sure what to make of it so I just dropped it. While it was probably too soon to start talking about being together exclusively, I knew that was the direction I was headed.

I was thinking about her constantly and it was a little too easy to get zoned out on her. I wasn't used to focusing so much of my attention on a single person, especially when I didn't realize I was doing it. At the same time, I wasn't freaked out the way I probably normally would have been. Things were so easy with Sookie. We had enough in common that we could find plenty to talk about and the chemistry between us was off the charts. Simply put, I'd never met anyone like her and I doubted I ever would again.

We worked together easily in the kitchen while we built our ideal pizzas. Hers was easy on the red sauce and heavy on the cheese. My kind of girl. We both liked onion on our pizza but I preferred mine to be a little sweated when I added them. Raw onion, whether or not I was on a date, was never a good thing. She added slices of pepperoni to her pizza while she waited for the onions to cook down a little.

I was busy slicing mushrooms and didn't notice Sookie had left the room until she came back with my high school yearbook in her hands. Dammit, I thought I hid that fucker better. She had a grin on her face and said, "Well, I guess now I know that perfect smile of yours isn't natural."

Right, the braces. I hated those things. "An unfortunate inheritance from my deadbeat dad."

"Uh oh, sounds like someone has daddy issues," Sookie took a seat on one of the stools at the table.

"My father left before I was born so I never met him," I explained while reaching for a green pepper.

"Ever thought about tracking him down?" she asked and sipped her tea.

"I used to but I don't really know what I'd say to him at this point," I shrugged. "Besides, it feels like I would be dishonoring my mother somehow; like she didn't do a good enough job on her own."

"What was she like?"

"My mother?" I asked and Sookie nodded. "She was… She was incredibly smart. She had this light about her that just drew people to her. And her laugh…it was one of those infectious laughs that forced even the grumpiest person to crack a smile. She worked hard, took care of me and she didn't deserve to die so young."

"No one deserves that," Sookie said with a look of sympathy that would have annoyed me if she hadn't been through the deaths of her own parents at such a young age.

"I probably shouldn't complain since I at least got the chance to get to know her," I said and Sookie nodded.

"My Gran used to tell me I got my rebellious streak from my mother but it would be nice to know that for myself," she sighed and traced her finger over my senior picture. "So what did you want to be when you grew up?"

I laughed at that, remembering the gamut I'd run as a child. "I think it depended on the day. When I was little I wanted to be a magician, then a fireman, then a songwriter when I got to my teen years."

"You wanted to be a songwriter?" Sookie smiled at me. "Why didn't you do that?"

"Turns out I can't write," I said with a laugh and her smile grew.

"I think you have your mother's laugh," she closed the yearbook without realizing that was probably the nicest thing she could have said to me.

I dropped the knife I was holding, swooped down and kissed her. I pulled back just a little and said, "Thank you."

A slight flush crept up her cheeks and she nodded. Then I told her Pam was in there too, and she was flipping through the pages to try and find her. I knew she did when she burst out laughing. "Oh my God! Pleeeeease tell me you have a scanner or something so I can blow up this picture and post it at the store!"

"I don't, but you could probably take a picture with your cell phone," I shrugged.

"You're a genius!" Sookie squeaked and ran to get her phone from the other room.

"Not that I'm against what you're doing here, but is there a reason you're doing this?" I asked while Sookie skillfully turned the phone different ways to get the best possible angle.

"Comedy isn't reason enough?" she asked without looking up from her phone. "Actually, she dropped by my office earlier today and gave me a warning."

My brows furrowed and I asked, "What kind of warning?"

"The kind that made it clear she wouldn't tolerate me fucking over her best friend," Sookie shrugged while taking her picture.

Not that I was surprised Pam said something, but it wasn't her place. She knew something was up with me last night and I refused to say what it was. Truthfully, I was bothered by Sookie bringing someone else to my bar. It felt underhanded and a little like a slap in the face. She had apologized but the act had forced me to think about what I wanted and because of it, I was distracted for the rest of the night.

"I'm sorry. She shouldn't have done that," I sighed and went back to chopping my green pepper.

"Don't worry about it. I actually think it's sweet that she cares enough to even make such a threat. I told her it was a mistake to bring Barry to your bar; I shouldn't have done that. I wasn't thinking about the more negative implications of it. I was thinking about finding him someone else to hook up with because I wanted to be with you. I wasn't trying to flaunt him in your face," Sookie explained and I nodded along.

"I know."

Sookie turned to face me and she stopped my hand from chopping. "I like you, Eric. I like where this, whatever it is we have, is going. I'm just not ready to say that this is it, you know?"

"I know," I nodded and gave her a small smile.

"So we're cool?"

"Yeah, we're cool," I agreed and she pushed herself up on her toes to kiss me. I met her half way and set the knife down.

What started out as a little kiss meant to seal the deal turned into something a little hungrier. I pushed the skillet with the onions in it off the burner and turned off the stove without breaking the kiss. My hands slipped into her hair and she set her phone down on the counter. We stood there kissing for a few minutes before I pulled back a little.

"How about I show you my sleeping quarters now?" I suggested.

She smiled up at me and said, "I thought you'd never ask."

* * *

><p><strong>I know this is a short chapter. Sorry about that. This was just a good place to break before we continue with their date. Swear to God, this is like, the date that never ends either. I think I've been reading to much of fanfic Wife's story "All In" because a single day is taking up like, 8 chapters. It's slightly redonkulous. For those of you wondering why Sookie hasn't confronted Eric yet about the whole earpiece thing, don't worry, she will. Ooooh she will. Thanks for reading!<strong>


	12. Ground Rules

**SPOV**

Eric led me to his bedroom with his hands on my shoulders and just like when I first walked into his apartment, I was pleasantly surprised by the way his bedroom was decorated. There was a large block glass window behind his bed and I assumed the room on the other side of the wall was the bathroom, since I didn't recall seeing the block glass anywhere else in the apartment. The floor was the same wide plank, dark stained wood that covered the rest of the house. The walls were that strange concrete blend that looked like marble but definitely wasn't smooth enough to be marble.

As expected, Eric's bed was enormous and covered in lush crimson material almost the same color as the walls in the kitchen. There was a retro designed chair on the corner that was a cross between rust and pumpkin in color and it didn't really look all that comfortable to sit on. The room was a little on the sparse side but that didn't really surprise me all that much. The rest of the house didn't boast of tons of pictures of his family and friends so I had no reason to think his bedroom would be any different.

"Please don't take this the wrong way," I said while turning to face Eric, who had casually flopped back on his bed. "But your place is kind of like a showroom."

He laughed and said, "I don't spend a whole lot of time here."

"I can tell," I walked over to his bed and he sat up; his long legs easily touching the floor where mine would have been left hanging. "There's something else I wanted to talk to you about because I've been thinking about it all afternoon since Pam came to see me."

"What's that?" Eric's hands settled on my hips, kneading them gently.

"This isn't a relationship talk where we have to make any big decisions about whether we're together or anything like that but I think until we get to that point, it's kind of skeevy if we keep fucking without condoms. I'm not sleeping with anyone else but I guess I would just feel safer about it. Does that make sense?"

He looked at me with a thoughtful expression and said, "It does make sense and truthfully, I should confess that I was jealous of that other guy last night. I know now that I had nothing to be jealous of but I didn't know it at the time. I don't like playing games and the reason things didn't work out with Max was because she lied to me about everything. So whatever this is, if it's something you want to go further, I need you to know that I can't deal with a repeat of what happened last night. It's a deal breaker for me from here on out."

"That's more than fair," I nodded and he looked slightly relieved. "So are you sleeping with anyone else?"

Eric smiled again and said, "No, I'm not. I haven't had sex with anyone but you since that blind date we were set up on."

I figured since we seemed to be in a sharing mode I'd ask a few more questions and see what he was willing to discuss and what he wasn't. "Can I ask how many women you've slept with?"

"By slept with do you mean _actually_ slept with, or how many I've had sex with?"

"Either…both…" I shrugged with a smile and let him pull me down onto his leg. His arms wrapped loosely around me and settled on my hip.

"If by sex you mean full sexual intercourse, the answer is seven, including you. If you mean the foreplay type stuff, the answer is twenty-two, but that includes the seven I've had sex with," Eric explained.

My head spun a little at the idea of being with that many people. I could admit to being a bit of a kissing slut when drunk, but I could count on one hand the number of people who'd had access to my lady business. For someone who claimed to not really have time for relationships, it sure seemed Eric had managed to get around a little. However, I didn't feel like it was my place to judge him. As long as we weren't a couple and he was being safe with whoever else he was with, I had no right to say a damn thing.

"How many people have you had sex with?" Eric asked me, breaking into my thoughts.

"I've kissed dozens," I admitted, not the least bit ashamed of it since it was just kisses. "I've fooled around with four and had sex with three, including you."

He looked positively stunned by my admission. "Three? Just three? You're not doing sex math, are you?"

"Sex math?" I laughed and turned a little in his lap so we were more face to face.

"Yeah, you know where a person wants to look either more experienced, or less experienced, so they do a little jiggering with their numbers," he said with a straight face.

"Um, no, no sex math. You, my friend, seem to be a special case because all the rules go out the window when I get near you. Generally speaking, I'm a very commitment friendly kind of girl. I don't do the sleeping around thing, as I've already told you, and while I do go out on a lot of dates, I'm very particular about who I sleep with."

"Then I'm lucky I made the cut," he smirked.

"You are," I agreed and sucked my bottom lip into my mouth. I found myself in one of those moments where I could go one of two ways, and we could forget about dinner and spend the rest of the night having really great sex or we could get off his bed and go finish dinner like two civilized people.

"Not that you don't look delicious," Eric squeezed my hip. "But I'm starving. So how about we shelve the sex until later?"

"Sounds like an excellent plan," I nodded, not at all upset with his suggestion. He kissed me gently and I got off his lap.

I stopped in the living room to flip the record and then joined Eric in the kitchen to get back to cooking. While we waited for the pizzas to bake, Eric opened a bottle of wine and poured us each a glass so we could wait out on the balcony. The combination of wine, Van Morrison, the sunset and being close to Eric had a strange affect on me. One minute I was perfectly content to keep things just as they were and not rock the boat and the next, I got these glimpses of what life could be like if we took the next step. In those moments out on the balcony, sipping wine and talking while the sun tucked itself away for the night, I got the overwhelming feeling I could be really happy with him.

So then why was I afraid to say as much? I'd always been the kind of girl who went after exactly what she wanted, regardless of what anyone else said. While I'd certainly taken my time in considering the advice of others, just on the chance there was something I was missing from the picture in my head, I always followed my gut. But being around Eric threw me off balance. He'd told me I was always surprising him and that I kept him on his toes but he did the same things to me. I liked that there were so many different sides to him and that even though we were incredibly different in a lot of ways, we were also very similar creatures.

Before I could get too swept up in my thoughts the timer went off the kitchen, forcing us back inside to remove the pizzas from the oven. Eric set them on cooling racks one at a time and showed me where the plates and silverware were so I could get what we needed. He sent me to pick a new album to listen to while we ate since Van Morrison was done and I spent a few minutes considering my options as the pizza cooled in the kitchen.

I smiled sadly when I came to what I assumed were his mother's old Sonny & Cher records. I would have picked one but I didn't want to send the wrong message or dampen the mood. I kept looking and came to an abrupt stop when I found the Rolling Stone's _Aftermath_ album and grinned to see 'Mother's Little Helper' on the backside of the sleeve. I quickly put Van Morrison back where it belonged and replaced it with the Rolling Stones on the turn table.

I was practically bouncing by the time I set the record down on the turntable. I turned the volume up a little bit because, well, the first track on the record was meant to be listened to loudly, in my humble opinion. I set the needle on the record and loudly crooned along with Mick. "What a drag it is getting old!" I called out and kept on singing.

I grabbed up my wine and scampered back to the kitchen to find Eric singing along as well. I couldn't sing to save my life but he didn't seem to care one bit about that. We sliced up our pizzas and loaded our plates before heading out of the kitchen for the dining room table set up by the patio door. Thankfully it wasn't a long song and it was finished by the time we sat down. Singing with a mouth full of pizza would have been bad.

"You know," I said while lifting my first slice of pizza. "If you can survive my singing, I think we'll be just fine."

Eric lifted his wine glass and said, "I'll drink to that."

**EPOV**

The night was going better than I expected, even with the delay of sexual gratification, I was still having a great time with Sookie. She was easy to talk to and while we'd battled some rather serious territory early on in the night, we'd plowed right through it like it was no big deal. It didn't really surprise me to learn I was the only one she was sleeping with but I was thankful to have it confirmed.

When I gave her that brief glimpse into my sexual past, I could tell she was reserving judgment over it. All I could do was blame it on my college years and then being a bar owner who occasionally took advantage of the spoils of my job. Whatever Sookie's opinion was, however, she kept it to herself. I was left slightly dumbstruck when she told me I was only the third person she'd had sex with. I knew she'd been in a long-term relationship with her cheating, douche of an ex and from all she'd told me about that, the sex hadn't been all that stellar.

The Sookie I knew wouldn't be happy with standard, missionary sex night after night. The girl definitely liked a little kink and I wasn't above giving her what she wanted. The curveball in that whole thing was knowing her ex had cheated on her with prostitutes. I could barely wrap my head around the attraction to strippers, let alone try and understand why anyone would want to pick up some stray tail _and_ pay for it. Then factor Sookie into the equation and the only possible answer was that her ex was a total fucking moron.

But his loss was my gain and I certainly wasn't going to be as stupid as he was. In the course of a single evening I was able to see at least three different sides of Sookie's personality and I knew there were plenty more where that came from. It amazed me how she could go from playing coy to a quiet listener and then to a playful, child-like girl who was singing along terribly to one of my mother's old Rolling Stones albums and it didn't end there. After dinner she insisted on helping me clean and was even lecturing me on better ways to stack dishes in the dishwasher until I finally gave up and let her do it her way.

It was amusing to watch her flip from one mode to another and the fact that she did it all so seamlessly only led me to believe it was genuine. Not that I had a reason to think she was faking it, but the night before had raised some suspicions. I decided I had to write that off as a mistake on her part. I'd laid it on the line and told her a repeat performance of the night before would signify the end of whatever it was we had going on between us. I realized, however, there was still a lot of gray area and we needed to set some ground rules.

So while we were debating between watching Dazed and Confused or The Crow, I decided there was no time like the present to bring it up. I cleared my throat and backed away from the entertainment center just a little so Sookie wouldn't feel like she was being attacked or anything when I asked my questions. She was spouting off Wooderson quotes, which I found to be hilarious, until she realized I wasn't standing next to her anymore.

"Something wrong?" she asked, both DVD cases in her hands.

"Ground rules," I blurted it out and wanted to kick myself.

"For watching a movie?" she raised an eyebrow rather comically and I laughed.

"No, I mean for this," I gestured between us, not really sure how she would feel about use of the word 'us,' since 'we' weren't technically an us.

Sookie set the cases down on the shelf behind her and then took a seat on the couch. "Thought of something else, did you?"

I nodded and started to pace a little since it seemed it was up to me to make the opening bid in the situation. "Well, we already agreed that if we're seeing other people, we don't talk about it, right?"

"I think we should amend that so it only comes up if it's serious with the other person. I don't want to be your mistress, Eric. I'm not a homewrecker, and once I commit to someone, I don't cheat," she reminded me.

"Me either," I agreed with her. "I've never cheated and don't plan on starting to now."

"Good. We also agreed that until things change between us we're using condoms from now, right?" she bit her bottom lip and I nodded.

"Makes the most sense to me," I said although I knew I was going to miss the feeling of being inside her without that barrier between us. All the more reason we should make a damn decision in the near future about which way we were going to go.

"It's like you said, Eric, communication and trust a key things in a relationship so we need to be honest with each other. If, at any point, this isn't working for you anymore you need to tell me and I'll do the same for you. I don't want to lead you on if I know it's not going to work," Sookie curled her legs underneath herself.

"Same here. I think this sort of goes without saying, but no bringing dates to each others place of employment either," I suggested and she nodded immediately.

"Won't happen again," she swore with a look of complete honesty in her eyes. "And if we happen to see each other while we're out with someone else, no acting like jealous maniacs."

"I can't promise you I won't get jealous," I told her. "And quite frankly, you can't promise you won't feel that way either. Besides, I think if we're feeling jealous, then maybe it's a sign we need to have the relationship talk and not the fuck buddies who go on dates sometimes talk."

"True," she nodded yet again. "This is so weird for me, Eric. I'm not used to being this casual about relationships. I'm used to knowing where it's going to go, whether it's good or bad but with you…it feels like the regular rules don't apply."

"We just take it one day at a time. When we know it's time to take the next step, or call it quits, we can talk about it. Until then, I say we just go with whatever feels right. No two relationships are the same anyway," I shrugged and sat down on the couch.

"And it doesn't help that we've sort of done everything backwards," Sookie smiled warmly and said, "I really do wonder if we would have met eventually anyway, even without Pam and Amelia's help. It's just so bizarre that we've been so close to each other all this time and it was completely by chance that we met at the hotel."

"Life works in mysterious ways," I smiled back at her.

Her eyes widened and she asked, "Do you have _Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind_?"

"Uh, no, I don't. What is that?"

Her eyes got impossibly wider and her small hand flew out to slap down on my forearm in complete and total shock. "It's only one of the best movies ever! Jim Carrey and Kate Winslet are just…they're amazing!"

"It's not a drama, is it?" I was iffy on Jim Carrey doing dramatic parts.

"Dude! I know what you're thinking because I totally thought there was no way he was going to be able to pull off a dramatic role, but I'm telling you, you _must_ see this movie! It will make you think like you wouldn't believe."

"What's it about?" I asked and Sookie's face lit up while she talked about the movie. "Ultimately it makes you think about whether it's better to have loved and lost, or never love at all. Not to mention, the concept of whether or not you can ever truly erase someone you love from your life. There's always this piece of them that's going to stay with you, at least that's what I believe."

"Does that mean you still love your ex?" I asked her and watched her expression change from one of confidence to one of thoughtfulness.

"Am I _in_ love with him? Fuck no. I absolutely hated him when we first broke up and while you definitely couldn't pay me to take him back, there's a part of me that can appreciate the relationship for what it was. It took me a long time to see it, but him cheating on me was probably the best thing that could have happened. If I never would have found out, God knows what nasty diseases I might have picked up or even worse, I might have married him and had his kids," Sookie cringed at the thought.

"I'm not implying it was your fault, but did you ever feel like it was?" I asked her since I was curious.

"My fault he cheated?" she asked and I nodded. "Not really. I mean, I felt like an idiot for not figuring it out sooner but I wanted to believe in the best in him. I didn't want to see all the warning signs, so I didn't. I'd like to think I'm smarter now but only time will tell."

"Cheating it such a cowardly way of breaking up with someone. No self-respecting person is going to tolerate their partner being with someone else behind their back like that. I always thought if I was unhappy enough in a relationship that I was looking elsewhere; it was time to bail out."

"Ever come close to cheating?"

"Not since I was just out of high school when my hormones were out of control and I was still immature enough to think that superseded anyone's feelings, including my own. There was a girl in college I dated for a while; it wasn't all that serious, at least for me, but I knew she was in love with me. It was more than I wanted back then and when I met someone who was a little more about the fun of being in a relationship instead of trying to get me to propose to her every ten seconds; I decided it was time to cut my losses."

"What happened with the other girl?"

I laughed and said, "About a week after I broke up with my girlfriend, I found out the new girl was already dating someone."

"Oh no!" Sookie laughed along with me. "So that went down the tubes, huh?"

"Yes, it did," I nodded and kept laughing.

With the movies completely forgotten, we ended up sitting on the couch talking instead. It wasn't until Sookie started to yawn at close to two in the morning that I realized we'd been talking for about five hours. We'd covered all sorts of topics, from childhood anecdotes to some of our more embarrassing teenage moments. She told me about being a bridesmaid in her cousin's shotgun wedding a few years before and how some disgusting redneck from an extremely backwater town called Hot Shot had tried to molest her, only to end up with her four inch heel jabbed in his balls and the palm of her hand smashing—and breaking- his nose.

"You're quite the badass, Sookie," I smiled at her and she yawned in response.

"Sorry," she apologized and shook herself. "What time is it anyway?"

"Almost two," I sighed and smiled when her eyes went wide with surprise.

"It doesn't seem like that much time has gone by," she said in amazement and I knew exactly how she felt. "Well, I guess that means we have a decision to make."

"What's that?"

"Well, I came prepared to spend the night but honestly, I have no energy left to do anything but sleep. So I can go home and crash-" she didn't get to finish because my index finger pressed to her lips to get her to stop talking.

"You only have to go home if you want to. I like snuggling, remember?" I reminded her and she smiled behind my finger.

"You know, I'm really starting to wonder where you've been all my life," she shook her head slowly when I pulled my finger away.

Oddly enough, I was wondering the same exact thing.

* * *

><p><strong>As I was reading through this chapter I realized that Eric admits to being jealous and later on goes to make a statement about how if they're feeling jealous, they should be having the relationship talk. Some of you are probably sitting there scratching your heads going, "Umm...Meg *points* FIX IT." I know, I know! But honestly? I don't think they're ready to admit that they're in a real relationship with each other just yet. The time is coming, however, so don't worry. I think deep down they both know where they're headed, it's just hard to get the words out sometimes. But it'll happen. I'll probably get started on that chapter either today or tomorrow, depending on how much Dexter I watch haha. Thanks for reading!<strong>


	13. Bed Wetters Mind Readers & Storytellers

**EPOV**

I was glad to hear Sookie had come prepared to spend the night. I didn't want to be a presumptuous bastard about it but all of our previous encounters told me to expect we'd end up in bed together at some point. I just hadn't figured we would be going straight to sleep. Yet that's exactly what happened. After getting a quick tour of my bathroom so she would know where to find everything she needed, Sookie returned to my bedroom in a slinky red nightie with lace trimming the neckline and the bottom of it.

"What?" she asked when I must have stared too hard.

"Keeping my hands to myself won't be easy with you dressed like that," I warned her.

"Then I guess it would be mean to tell you I'm naked under this," she smirked at me.

Her glasses were gone, as was her makeup. She turned her head ever so lightly and I could see the tiny stud in her nose that I forgot was there most of the time. She put her bag on the chair on the other side of the room and then walked back to the bed. Standing at the foot of it, she bit her bottom lip in contemplation.

"What are you thinking about so hard?" I couldn't hold back the smile I tried to suppress.

"Just wondering which side of the bed you sleep on," she admitted with a shrug.

"Right where I am now," I crossed my legs at my ankles and she grinned.

"Perfect," she said as she climbed up onto the bed and crawled to the vacant spot beside me. "I sleep on _this_ side at home."

"Make yourself comfortable. I'll be right back," I promised her and then headed to the bathroom to do my own nightly routine.

I did a quick check of the apartment and made sure the front door was locked, although I had no reason to think it wouldn't be since I'd bolted it when we first arrived hours before. I double checked the patio door since I'd forgotten to lock it on a few occasions. I sincerely doubted anyone would try to break in since I was up on the sixteenth floor, but anything was possible. I left the stove's overhead light on in the kitchen in case Sookie was one of those people who got the munchies, or thirsty, in the middle of the night.

My overnight experience with her was in hotel rooms after numerous rounds of rigorous, knock out sex—which was a far cry from that night's activities in my apartment. Overnight. A sleepover. Our first sleepover, really. Not that the hotel didn't count, necessarily, but this was different. Sookie could have easily decided she wanted to go home and sleep in her own bed where there was less chance of being molested in her sleep, but instead she opted to stay.

While we had set ground rules for being fuck buddies or friends with benefits, whatever the hell you wanted to call it, it was obvious to me we were quickly moving past that point. I'd meant what I said about jealousy earlier. I really couldn't control it if those feelings rose up in me and it was rare for me to feel that way. To me, that screamed I was in relationship territory and the fact that I'd already experienced it once—and told Sookie I'd felt that way- should have been a pretty clear indication of where my head was at.

I didn't know if the clue had just flown over her head or maybe she didn't press me for further detail because she didn't quite feel the same way I did. I'd never met a girl who seemed to be so okay with the idea of being in a more casual relationship. I wondered how different things would be if we decided we were going to really do the couple thing and make ourselves into an official 'us.'

Once upon a time I was the kind of guy who cringed at guys who had to run everything by their girlfriends for permission before he could make plans. I'd sit there like a tool, waiting for a response while whichever one of my buddies I was talking to checked with his chick, only for him to tell me, "Sorry, Eric, but we're going to Home Depot to look at sconces and drawer pulls."

Hearing shit like that used to make me want to blow my brains out. I never wanted to be the kind of guy who waited around to see what my girl was doing. It occurred to me, while I was gargling in my enormous bathroom, that maybe I'd felt that way because I had never really been in love before. I'd heard for years that love had the power to make a person do crazy things, and even though I knew I wasn't in love with Sookie, I knew I would gladly hold off on making plans to see what _she_ wanted to do. That had to mean something, didn't it?

I returned to my bedroom to find Sookie curled on her side with one hand tucked under her cheek. The Temptations were trying their best to hatch an escape and I reminded myself I had promised to behave. I got into bed beside her and when I pulled her closer to me; she didn't fight me on it like she had the night we first met. It was a welcome change and I couldn't hold in the laugh that bubbled up when I thought about it.

"What's so funny? You're not like, a bed wetter, are you?" Sookie teased.

I laughed louder and said, "No, I'm not a bed wetter. I do snore though."

"I noticed," Sookie turned onto her other side. "I also noticed you're a spooner."

"Is that a problem for you?" I rolled up behind her and smiled against her hair when her hand reached for mine.

"Just try not to put me in some iron grip death hold, otherwise we'll definitely be having another discussion about bed wetting in the morning," she warned.

"I'll do my best," I kissed her shoulder softly. "I was laughing because I was thinking about the night we met. I tried to snuggle you and you'd think I'd tried to get you to cuddle a vile of Bubonic Plague, or something."

"Snuggling wasn't part of the deal then," she wiggled her ass against me in a very teasing way that got her a groan of frustration from me. "But for what it's worth, I'm glad I caved on it. Most guys who are offered no strings attached sex wouldn't have bothered."

I rolled back again to turn off the lamp on my bedside table and then returned to my spot behind Sookie to wrap my arm around her. "What would you have done if I had stuck my name and phone number in your purse? Would you have called me?"

"Honestly? I have no idea. I definitely wasn't in a relationship place back then," she admitted and I could appreciate her honesty. "But I think things worked out just fine anyway."

I couldn't argue with that. We were quiet for a few minutes before Sookie yawned and squeezed my hand. She turned her head as far as she could and said, "Sleep tight, Eric. Don't let the bed bugs bite."

I stretched forward to kiss her goodnight. "Sweet dreams, Sookie."

**SPOV**

Eric's bed was way too damn comfortable. I wanted to give all the credit to the bed itself but I knew it had a hell of a lot to do with the extremely sweet and sexy blond that held me while I slept in said bed. True to his word, Eric hadn't made any moves on me and the next morning when I woke up in pretty much the same position I'd fallen asleep in, I realized it was the first time we'd gotten together without having sex.

Morning wood was definitely present and accounted for but I didn't feel the urge to take advantage of it. It almost felt like sex would ruin the date that had extended into breakfast, or so I assumed, and I didn't want to do that. Just sitting up talking to him had been a lot of fun and that was when I knew, for sure, that I was in big trouble. When I was willing to forgo an orgasm for conversation, that was a sign I was invested.

I cursed myself silently. Being with Eric was amazing for all the right reasons, but it was also scary as fuck. We got along so well and even though I'd completely screwed up by bringing Barry to his business like I did, we were able to move past that. I was glad he didn't perceive what I'd done as some lame attempt at mind fucking him because that wasn't at all what I was trying to do. Even better, I was glad he didn't seem to be hellbent on getting revenge for it.

I lingered in bed beside Eric for as long as I could before my bladder demanded I get up and empty it. When my toes hit the cool wooden floor, I bit my lip to keep from squealing. I tip toed to the bathroom and closed the door quietly behind me. My hair was a little wild, but not nearly as crazy as it was after previous nights with Eric. After relieving myself I went over to the sink to wash my hands and brush my teeth.

My toothbrush was still sitting on the counter next to the sink and for just a second, I put it in the holder beside Eric's. I felt myself flush with embarrassment and quickly pulled the brush from the holder. Putting my toothbrush there was like the adult equivalent of writing my first name with his last name all over my notebook. Granted, I'd never been one of those girls—I'd hated those girls- but Eric brought out this side of me I didn't know was there until I met him.

While I definitely had my rebellious streak, I had always been remarkably traditional when it came to relationships. I'd always thought I would end up with a southern gentleman for a husband because opposites were supposed to attract and well, a southern gentleman would be the opposite of my more brash, extroverted personality. That was part of the reason I'd held onto Bill for so long, even though I wasn't really all that happy with him for the last six or so months we were together.

Eric was definitely polite and it was obvious his mother had raised him well when it came to how to treat women, there was just enough of the non-conventional mixed into his personality to keep me from being bored to tears. He was balanced; I guess is the best way to put it. I knew he could bring the best of both worlds. He could be polite and respectful enough that I wouldn't be ashamed to bring him home to meet my Gran, but he had no problem throwing me down on a table and fucking me silly.

I crept back to bed with minty fresh breath and turned on my side so I was facing Eric. He was snoring that quiet, sporadic snore pattern of his, almost like the noises punctuated whatever he was dreaming about. I could see his eyes moving under their lids so I knew he was dreaming. He was so adorable when he was sleeping. Hell, he was pretty much adorable all the time, truth be told.

It struck me then how watching him sleep was a coupley thing to do and it gave me pause. We'd had a pretty clear discussion the night before that put us squarely in that in between stage, somewhere between fuck buddies and an actual couple. I guess, to quote _Say Anything_, we were 'friends with potential,' since calling him a fuck buddy didn't really fit the bill and friends with benefits sounded so incredibly high school.

I considered getting up to start making breakfast but I wanted to be there when he woke up. I didn't want him to think I had second thoughts and bolted from his apartment at some point in the night. My hands, having a mind of their own, started tracing the lines of his abs and chest and I smiled when he shifted just a little. My eyes moved down from his face, past his neck and chest to where a part of him wasn't nearly as sleepy as the rest.

I giggled quietly and stilled my hand on his stomach. Slowly, I inched a little closer to him until my forehead was pressed against his shoulder. I stared at his bare chest as it rose and fell with each deep breath he took. Before I knew it, my own eyelids started to get heavy and closed completely. The next time they opened I was locked in Eric's vice-like grip and my head was resting right over his heart. The steady, relaxed staccato rhythm vibrated under my cheek and I smiled without saying a word.

"I could get used to this," Eric was the one to break the silence.

"Shhhh…" I shushed him because I wanted to enjoy the quiet.

His chest shook with silent laughter and his hands roamed my back gently, in a soothing way. We stayed perfectly quiet, and mostly still, for probably about ten minutes before Eric couldn't resist talking again. I was going to have to gag that boy. Hmmmm…

"How'd you sleep?" he asked before pressing a kiss to the top of my head.

"Like the dead. I didn't move at all until I had to get up to pee this morning. That's pretty rare for me. Usually I'm more of a Tazmanian Devil sleeper," I warned him and then started to wonder if it was his presence that had prevented me from turning, thrashing and rolling around the way I usually did during the night.

"Maybe you just like sleeping with me," he suggested, almost as if he could read my mind. It was creepy how he seemed to be able to do that sometimes.

"Okay, that's just weird," I tried to turn a little so I could look up at Eric's face.

"What's weird?" he quirked one of those eyebrows at me.

"I was just thinking that maybe you were the reason I slept so well and then you said it. Are you a mind reader?" I smirked but then rose both of my eyebrows when he looked a little shocked. "What?"

"I was thinking the same thing about you last night. When we were still sitting on the couch you made a comment about how you were starting to wonder where I'd been all your life. I was thinking the same thing," he confessed to me and whether I wanted to smile or not, it happened.

"You were?" I feel no shame in admitting I melted into a big puddle of mush at his confession.

He nodded and the kiss that followed forced me to wonder what the fuck we were doing, sitting stagnant in this friends with potential situation. No, we didn't need to rush into something serious. We could still take it slow but I knew then, without a doubt, that if he so much as _looked_ at another woman, I would lose my shit.

"You cheated," he said with a hint of a smile on his sleepy face.

"Excuse me?" My breath caught in my throat and my brows furrowed.

"You brushed your teeth," he sucked my bottom lip into his mouth and I didn't even try to take it back.

"Is that against the rules?" I asked when he rolled on top of me.

His weight settled between my open legs and I got a very personal hello from the morning wood I'd giggled over earlier. Eric tucked some of my hair behind my ear, shook his head slowly and the leaned in to kiss me some more. We lay there for a while, making out like a couple of horny teenagers, but Eric didn't press to go further. Either he forgot I wasn't wearing underwear or he'd decided sex would cheapen our date the same as I had.

"I'm hungry," he said when he pulled back.

"Me too," my hands were roaming along his back, scratching and tickling slowly. "Since you made me dinner, I'll make you breakfast."

"You can cook?" he mocked my expression from the day before and I playfully batted at his bicep.

"Of course I can cook, Mr. Smarty! I'm a southern girl, remember?"

"That doesn't mean squat. I've had a few girlfriends who were raised in the south and they wouldn't know the difference between a Viking stove and an _actual_ Viking," Eric told me with a grin.

"See, now that just makes me question your taste in women," I snorted. "Luckily, I raise the bar."

He dipped his hips against mine, rubbing his still very present morning wood against me and said, "Yes, you certainly do."

"No, no, there will be none of that. We're hungry so we're going to go eat," I wiggled out from under him. He'd had his chance. Of course, that wasn't to say he wouldn't have another chance after breakfast.

Eric headed to the bathroom while I went to the kitchen to see what, exactly, my options were. When I spotted all the necessary ingredients for homemade biscuits and gravy, I knew we had a winner. While I could definitely cook quite well, there were only a few dishes I'd mastered. My Gran made some of the best biscuits in all of Renard Parish (she had blue ribbons to prove it) and she'd taught me long ago how to make them.

"What are you doing?" Eric asked as I was going through the cabinets in search of flour.

"Looking for flour," I said and bent over to peek in a lower cabinet.

Eric groaned and then he was definitely right behind me, his hands on my hips as he leaned against me to reach into an upper cabinet. I smirked and stood up slowly so I wouldn't whack my head on the cabinet door. He grabbed a white porcelain canister and handed it to me.

"Here you go," he kissed the top of my head and moved out of the way.

"Thank you," I smiled over at him.

"So what's on the menu this morning?" he asked while going over to the coffee maker in the corner to get it started.

"Biscuits and gravy," I said without looking at him, since I was preoccupied trying to find the measuring cups and spoons. When he didn't say anything for a minute, I turned in his direction to see a wistful expression on his face. "Do you not like that?"

"No, it's not that," he shook his head. "Mom used to make that every Sunday when I was a kid."

I felt a little stab in my chest for him and crossed the room to give him a hug. Slowly, his arms closed around me and I heard him breathe me in, not that I couldn't feel the expansion of his chest against my cheek. I squeezed him a little tighter and he followed suit.

"You know, it makes me kind of sad that I'll never get to meet her," I rubbed his back.

"Yeah, me too. She would have liked you," Eric sounded sad and held me a little tighter.

"Tell me more about her," I looked up at him with a smile, thinking maybe he needed to get some of that off his chest.

I was so young when my own parents died that I didn't really have a whole lot to say on the topic. I could go on for hours about my Gran and I had no doubt when the time came, I'd be a mess when she died. I had no idea where I'd be without her and I knew without him having to say it that Eric felt the same way about his mother. He talked while I started mixing the dough for the biscuits, fetching me little things here and there as I needed them.

I learned that Grace, Eric's mother, had grown up a military brat. Her father was a Marine and had moved the family around quite a bit before he was stationed at Camp Pendleton for an extended period of time. It was there that Grace met Eric's father, a young marine who also lived on the base. Because she was just over sixteen at the time, and the Marine was almost twenty, they had to keep their relationship a secret.

It wasn't until he was sent off on an assignment that kept him away for close to six months that Grace let the cat out of the bag. Her father went ballistic, as one might expect, and only agreed not to involve the authorities when Grace assured him that someday, she was going to marry the Marine. When he returned from his training or whatever it was he'd been doing, Grace introduced him to her father. Eric's grandfather had been less than welcoming to the young Marine and the night went horribly.

Six weeks later, the Marine was shipped out on overseas duty that Grace suspected her father had orchestrated to get her away from Eric's father, but she couldn't prove it. Two weeks after the Marine was gone, Grace learned she was pregnant with Eric. She was still a senior in high school, never had a job and no way of contacting the Marine, since she had no forwarding address to reach him at. Since they weren't married no one would tell her where he'd gone and she suspected all letters or phone calls that might be coming from him were being intercepted by her parents.

"Mom was about to go on one of those boat tours to look for whales when she went into labor. She told me once she didn't feel her water break right away and she'd thought her legs were wet because of the spray coming up from the ocean. Then the pain hit and she knew it was time," Eric told me with a nostalgic smile.

Seventeen very painful hours later, Eric had come into the world with a shock of blond hair, bright blue eyes and his father's very distinct nose. Her parents had supported them both, initially, but ultimately her father's tough love approach to parenting won out and Grace was evicted from their home, leaving her to raise Eric on her own. Just before his second birthday, Grace married a friend of hers whom she'd had a crush on for years. For Grace, it was somewhat of a dream come true. The guy didn't mind that she already had a kid and he was actually really good to Eric. The problem was, he drank too much and preferred the company of women who weren't his wife.

The marriage ended badly and even though Eric didn't really remember it, his mother said he'd taken the divorce badly. His step-father was the only father he knew so it made sense that Eric would have a hard time coming to grips with it. They remained in California for a few years but yet another love interest was reason for Grace to pack up her son and follow him to Texas when he was offered a job with an oil drilling company. That relationship failed as well.

Through it all, Grace maintained her determination to make sure Eric was very well taken care of. He was her first priority, which Eric suspected was part of the reason the relationships failed. "I wasn't their kid," he said with a shrug, as if that explained everything.

"Sounds like a bunch of guys with weak character to me," I said while I cut out the biscuits. "They knew going in that you were part of the package. Did they really think your Mom was just going to forget you existed?"

"I don't know. I remember when we first moved to Texas and she got a job waitressing at some shitty truck stop on the outskirts of the little town we were living in. It was about as country as you can get. Just about every guy out that way wore cowboy boots, hats and flannel all year round. Hell, most of them were bowlegged from all their years riding horses. She'd bring me with her on the weekends when she had to work. I'd sit at the counter with my coloring books or action figures to keep myself busy. When I got a little older, she had me bussing tables for her," Eric recalled with a smile. "The older ladies thought I was cute and they'd slip me sugar-free candy or a quarter for my help."

I giggled at the thought of a little Eric walking around with one of those big busser's bins with a missing tooth and a cowlick sticking straight up. I had to admit, it was an adorable picture in my mind and I couldn't blame those old ladies for being completely charmed by him. "You'll have to show me a picture of yourself when you were a kid sometime."

"I probably have one around here somewhere," he shrugged again and I was sure that if his mother fussed over him as much as I suspected he did, there was probably boxes of them stashed somewhere in his apartment.

"I'll show you mine if you show me yours," I winked at him.

"That doesn't just apply to school pictures, I hope," he smirked and leaned over to open the oven door for me so I could put the biscuits in to bake.

"Honey, you've already seen it all," I shook my head and then got myself caught up in his iron vice grip again.

"And I think it's time for an encore," his eyebrows wiggled while he dragged me over to the kitchen table.

Encore indeed.

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><p><strong>Okay, so I feel it is my duty to warn you that as I was writing chapter 16 last night, it occurred to me that it's entirely possible that 16 will be the last chapter of this story. I may throw in an epilogue but we'll see how that chapter ends. Since I never really had a plan for any of this beyond their initial meeting, squeezing 15 additional chapters out of this pair is pretty good. I can't tell you how it's going to end but I CAN promise it'll be happily. Thanks for reading!<strong>


	14. Revenge

**I guess this chapter is a little NSFW. We get some zesty goodness toward the end. Tomorrow's chapter is another story.**

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><p><strong>EPOV<strong>

I pulled Sookie into my lap on one of the kitchen chairs but she leaned back when I tried to kiss her. "What? I brushed," I smirked at her and moved in again.

"It's not that," she shifted a little closer to my knee.

"Then what's the problem? I bore you, is that it? You just want me for my brainless good looks and relentless sex appeal," I joked with her and she laughed.

"No! Now will you shut up and let me talk?" she punched me playfully in the gut.

"The floor is yours, Miss Stackhouse," I gestured in front of us.

"Thank you. So, I failed to mention this yesterday but I need to ask you about it because it's something that should probably go on our list of rules for future encounters," she said with a completely serious face.

"Okay," I nodded and waited for her to continue.

"When Pam came to see me yesterday she mentioned that the microphone for the earpiece you were wearing had been left on. Everyone heard what we did," she told me, looking slightly mortified because of it.

I burst out laughing, which was clearly the wrong reaction. "This isn't funny, Eric."

"Sookie, Pam was fucking with you," I told her when I stopped laughing. I was going to get Pam back for this if Sookie didn't beat me to it.

"Eric, she _knew_ things," Sookie said with wide eyes.

"What'd she say?" I folded my arms, curious to know how Pam was able to get specifics.

"That I was a very naughty girl," Sookie said with a pout and folded arms.

"You _were_ a very naughty girl," I reminded and Sookie smacked my arm. "Well you were. Is that all she said?"

"Isn't that enough?" Sookie's jaw dropped.

"Sookie, sweetheart, how well do you know Pam?"

"We're not besties who do each others hair and nails or anything, but we've hung out a few times."

"So then you don't know that Pam is notoriously nosy and likes to stick her nose in where it doesn't belong purely for her own amusement," I explained and the look of shock turned to one of pure evil.

"That twat! She tricked me?" Sookie launched herself off my lap and for a minute I thought she was going to march over to Pam's apartment and kick her ass.

"Sookie, calm down," I reached up and pulled her back into my lap. "We can get Pam back for this."

"We? Oh no! No, this is personal. I'll get her," Sookie said with determination on her face. "I'm thinking her shoe collection will be involved; maybe peanut butter in her Choos."

_I love you_. I burst out laughing and wrapped Sookie up in a hug. "Sookie, the only way that microphone works is if I push a button on the receiver it's connected to, and since I'd taken it off, there was no way I could have pushed the button. She probably guessed since she saw you come in with someone else and just assumed you'd be in trouble with me for it."

"She is _so_ going down," Sookie shook her head, her leg bouncing with angry energy.

I almost felt sorry for Pam. Almost.

I wanted a little revenge on Pam myself for cockblocking me a roundabout way and I was pretty sure I knew exactly how I was going to go about getting it. Sookie was clearly stewing in her anger over Pam's fuckery while she started putting together the sausage gravy. I tried to help her but she slapped my hands away, relegating me to biscuit watcher since she hadn't set a timer after putting them in the oven.

"I don't need a timer," Sookie told me when I offered to set it for her.

"Oh no? Intuition tells you when they're done?" I joked and she narrowed her eyes at me.

"Just watch the biscuits," she glared at me with a hint of a smile on her face so I knew she wasn't really pissed. Well, she was, just not at me.

"Tell me about your Gran," I pushed myself up onto the island opposite the cooktop she was working on.

"What do you want to know?" she glanced over me.

"Whatever you want to tell me," I leaned forward, bracing myself on my hands that were wrapped around the counter's edge.

Sookie took a deep breath, considering how best to begin. I'd told her a lot about my mother and I appreciated she was willing to listen to me. I hadn't been in a relationship since before Mom died, and the last girl I'd been dating who I considered a girlfriend had bailed when Mom's illness flared up and I had to shift my priorities. Honestly, I couldn't really blame her for jumping ship. I wasn't exactly a fun person to be around at that point and since she hadn't been around long enough to have met my mom, I could understand why she didn't want to be in it for the long haul. Ultimately, it was the best thing for everyone. Not to mention, Pam hated her with a passion.

"My Gran is…" Sookie trailed off, apparently having trouble finding the words. "She's the definition of a southern woman, I guess. She's pretty open-minded about most things, considering her age. She always encouraged my brother and me to go after the things we wanted, no matter how crazy or far fetched our ideas were. Gran always believed less is more which is good, since we didn't really have all that much. We had just enough, which is really all that matters.

"She taught us the importance of being polite and respecting our elders. We went to church every Sunday after we went to live with her up until we were teenagers and old enough to make up our own minds about whether or not we wanted to have a close relationship with God. Gran is the glue that holds our tiny family together. My Aunt Linda, my father's sister, died a few years ago from breast cancer," Sookie confessed and I could instantly sympathize with her.

"I'm sorry to hear that," I said sincerely and she gave me a sad smile.

"Now you know why I didn't bother to say anything when you told me about your Mom. I know what it's like to watch someone you love wither away," Sookie reached out and patted my knee before getting back to stirring her gravy and talking about Gran.

Gran definitely sounded like a very spirited person. Sookie talked about all the different things Gran was involved in, from her Descendents of the Glorious Dead Club to the church, her garden club, and the Parish Historical Society. She was also active in tracing back the Stackhouse family tree and regularly babysat Sookie's cousin's son, a four-year-old boy named Hunter, who seemed to have inherited his Aunt Sookie's rebellious streak.

"Poor Gran. I don't know how she handles having Hunter so often. When she was dealing with me on a full-time basis, she was at least ten years younger than she is now, and she wasn't exactly young then either." Sookie turned the heat down on the stove.

"What's the craziest thing you did when you were younger?" I asked her, since I was curious to know what sort of shenanigans she'd gotten herself into.

"The craziest or the stupidest?" Sookie asked with a smirk.

"Is there a difference?"

"Oh yes," Sookie nodded emphatically and turned to look at me. "I would say the craziest/stupidest thing I ever did was tell Gran I was going with some Bible study friends on a volunteer mission to help with a relief effort after some really bad rains flooded the southern part of the state. Instead, I really went with Lafayette and his cousin Tara to spend a weekend in New Orleans."

"You _are_ a naughty girl," I said with amusement.

"That was how I found out that rum and I don't get along. I spent the better part of Sunday throwing up. The whole drive home, Lafayette had to pull over like every twenty feet so I could puke."

"Note to self: no rum for Sookie," I smiled at her.

She cringed and said, "I can't even stand the smell of it."

"Understandable. Pam had a similar experience with tequila once," I recalled with a grin. "We went down to Mexico right after we graduated from high school and we were at some dive bar where a shot of tequila was like, fifty cents or something. There's Pam, all dressed in her Lonestar couture, hair immaculately styled and a ridiculously high pair of heels on because it's Pam and I don't think her feet have been in a pair of flat shoes since before her mother started her on the pageant circuit-"

"Whoa, whoa, whoa! Back the train up! _Pam_ was in beauty pageants?" Sookie doubled over laughing when I nodded. "How did I not know this?"

"Pam doesn't like talking about it and she'd probably kill me if she knew I told you," I warned her.

"Oh my fucking God! I know how I'm getting her back!" Sookie ran out of the room, never mind that I was half way through a story. When she came back she was bouncing with excitement while she was fiddling with her iPhone. "Yes! Yes! There _is_ a God and Sookie Stackhouse is his favorite daughter!"

"What are you up to?" I asked her.

"I just bought Pam a present," she said with an evil smile.

"A present?"

She nodded and said, "The first season of Toddlers & Tiara's is being shipped to her house in three to five business days."

Yep, I was definitely falling in love.

**SPOV**

"Don't worry, the gift is being sent anonymously so she won't know it came from me. Besides, I'm sure Pam's pissed off enough people to earn a few pranks in her name," I set my phone down on the table before looking up at Eric, who was obviously stunned. "What? Are you mad at me for getting her back?"

Eric slid off the counter closed the space between us with a single step and kissed me hard until I had to pull away to breathe. "No, I'm not mad. I'm impressed. And Pam is going to where a 'what the fuck face' for at least three days."

I grinned and bounced some more. I would have been happy to return to the kissing portion of the morning now that my mood was brightened, but I had gravy to stir and Eric was supposed to be watching my biscuits, even though I'd know by smell when they were ready. He resumed telling me his story about Pam getting drunk in Mexico on shitty tequila, and then getting a jailhouse style tattoo of two female symbols linked together on her left boob.

I was in stitches by the time Eric finished. I'm talking tears rolling down my cheeks, side clutching, knee slapping, makes me snort kind of laughter. Eric was laughing along with me and I tried to imagine the rather prim Pam that I knew stumbling around some back alley in a foreign country with a bottle of tequila in one hand and her expensive slingback pumps in the other, searching for a less than reputable tattoo parlor. It was just too hilarious.

A few minutes after I calmed down, the smell of biscuits hit me and I knew it was time to pull them out. "Are you sure?" Eric asked while reaching for the oven mitt on the counter.

"Yessir," I nodded and he pulled the biscuits out. Just as I knew they would be, they were a perfect golden brown on top and I reached for the small sauce pan with melted butter in it. "Do you have a pastry brush or a brush for grilling?"

"I think so," Eric said and began searching drawers until he found what I needed.

"Will you please brush butter over the top of those for me?" I asked him since the gravy required almost constant stirring. It was almost done and it smelled amazing.

"You got it, boss," he winked at me and got to work brushing the biscuits with butter.

A few minutes later the gravy was perfect and the butter had time to soak into the biscuits. Eric pulled down a couple of bowls for us to use which made me smile. It was my opinion that biscuits and gravy should _never_ be served on a plate. If you put it on plate, you clearly weren't using the right amount of gravy, or it'd be all over your lap. We sat down at the table together, each of us with a bowl and a cup of coffee. I waited for Eric to go first since I wanted to make sure he liked it.

Obviously this was a recipe his mother had perfected over the years of her life and it clearly brought back memories for Eric to have it again. I'd considered making something else but since he hadn't discouraged me from keeping up with my plan, I didn't see a reason to go with something else. I watched him lift a forkful of food and carefully blow on the steaming hot gravy for a few seconds before taking his first bite.

His eyes closed almost immediately and he smiled a goofy smile. "Amazing," he said with his mouth still full.

I smiled back at him even though he couldn't see me, and took a bite from my own bowl. About three bites later, I realized Eric was staring at me. "What?" I asked and took a drink of my coffee.

"You're moaning," he gave me a heated look.

"I am?"

"You did it at the hotel, too," he informed me.

If I were a blusher, I probably would have just then. Instead, I shrugged and said, "I didn't even realize I was doing it."

Of course, now that I knew I was doing it, I made a production out of it and it didn't go unnoticed. "You're making it very hard—pun intended- for me to keep eating," Eric stared at me as I closed my lips around my fork and moaned loudly.

"You know what the great thing is about biscuits and gravy?" I set my fork down and got up from my chair.

"What's that?" he asked, completely unsure of what to do with his fork.

"It reheats beautifully," I winked at him and then sauntered off in the direction of his bedroom.

I was barely out of the kitchen when I heard the clanging of his fork hitting the bowl and then heavy footsteps were chasing me through the apartment. I didn't even bother looking over my shoulder while I made my run for it. I wanted him to catch me, of course, and he did just before I could take a running leap for his bed.

"You're a naughty little tease, aren't you?" Eric wrapped his arms around my shoulders. His voice had dropped an octave into what I had come to know as his dominant voice. "Do you know what happens to naughty little teases, Susannah?"

I shivered and then did internal backflips at the sound of my full name filling my ears in that tone of voice. I shook my head and Eric spun me around so we were face to face. He pulled my nightie up over my head and tossed it to the floor, staring appreciatively at my naked form.

"They get a taste of their own medicine," he gave me a devilish smirk before gently pushing me back onto his bed.

"So you're going to make me sit here while you moan over a bowl of biscuits and gravy?" I sassed him, which was sort of brave considering the tone he was using with me.

Eric moved behind me, sitting on his bed so his back was against the headboard. His legs were spread open and he patted the mattress between them. "Sit here, but keep facing the dresser."

I scooted back between his legs and didn't stop until my back was pressed against his chest. I had no idea what he was planning on doing but I had no doubt, whatever he'd come up with, I was going to enjoy it thoroughly in the end. He arranged my legs, bending my knees and propping them up so my feet were planted on the outside of his straightened legs. My hair was swept to the side away from my neck, only to be replaced by his lips seconds later.

I leaned back against him and relaxed a little until he turned my face toward his as far as my neck would turn. His lips met mine softly, at first, barely brushing against them. If this was his idea of a taste of my own medicine, I was a little disappointed. But then his kisses got a little rougher and he took full advantage of my open mouth when I gasped after he bit my bottom lip. My tongue warred with his and that was when the assault of his hands began. It felt like they were everywhere all at once, moving over every inch of skin they could reach until one settled on my breast and the other was on my throat.

His fingers expertly pinched, twisted and rolled my nipples while his kisses got deeper and deeper until I had to pull away to breathe. He didn't give me much time to recover before he was on me again. His hand moved down my stomach and teased my inner thighs, going everywhere but where I wanted it to go. He teased me until I was ready to cry out in frustration and just as I was about to, one of his fingers slid between my slick folds making my hips buck a little.

"You like that?" he asked and tugged on my earlobe with his teeth.

"More," I moaned, or maybe pleaded.

He gave me what I asked for, rubbing tight circles over my clit for a few minutes until two of his fingers were wet enough to slide them inside me. I cried out and grabbed onto his thighs. His free arm circled around my chest, holding me to him while his fingers inside me began to move in and out at a regular rhythm. He knew just want to do to draw out my pleasure and make me beg for more. He'd known those things from the start which made me wonder if he was just that good, or if we were built for each other. After careful consideration, I decided it was entirely possible it could be a combination of the two.

Thanks to his big hands, Eric was able to keep moving his fingers inside me a lovely pace while his thumb drew those heavenly circles around my clit, pushing me closer and closer to release. I could feel the tight little coil in my belly on the verge of springing free. I was _right there_ when he pulled his hand away. My eyes popped open and my head turned so I could look up into his eyes.

"Why'd you stop?" I asked in a slightly breathless tone.

"How does it taste?" he asked me with that even gleam in his eyes. What the fuck was he talking about?

"What? How does _what_ taste?" My eyebrows furrowed.

His fingers went back to work between my legs and he started all over again, building me up to where that glorious explosion I needed was just about to happen when he pulled his hand away a second time. I growled in frustration and turned my head again, only that time I bit his chest gently. He smirked at me and plunged his fingers back inside me.

"Oh fuck," I hissed, my muscles clamping down on this fingers. "Don't stop, Eric," I pleaded with him, but of course, he stopped a third time. "Motherfucker!" I shouted and then peeled myself away from him.

"I guess you don't like it," Eric smirked at me.

"Oh there is a _huge_ difference between moaning over breakfast and what you're doing here," I glared at him while continued to just look amused. "This isn't funny, Eric."

He reached for me but I pulled away. Somewhere, deep inside me, some rational part of me knew this was all a game, or maybe a test and I'd failed. Miserably. At the moment, however, all I could think about was the orgasm I'd been denied not once, not twice, but _three_ times. Fuck the test; I wanted to cum, Goddammit!

"Sookie, come here," he said in a more tender voice.

"No. You had your chance. Now it's my turn," I said, having decided I was going to turn the tables on him.

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><p><strong>*sigh* You'd think after how quickly Sookie came up with a plan to get Pam back, Eric would be more cautious. Apparently, he loves playing with fire. You'll have to wait until next chapter to see how burned he gets but I promise it'll be worth the wait. We'll get to see a little dom!Sookie next chapter *grins* Thanks for reading!<strong>


	15. Following the Rules

**Alright, so this chapter is about as NSFW as they get. Enjoy!**

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><p><strong>EPOV<strong>

I gulped when she said, "No, you had your chance. Now it's _my_ turn."

I had no idea what she meant, exactly, but quite a few ideas were running through my mind. Sookie's passes at taking control of our sexual activities were always short lived but I could tell by the determination; not to mention the frustration, that she wasn't playing at the moment. She meant business and I was about to pay greatly for toying with her.

I told myself I would take it like a man, whatever it was she was planning to do with me. I wasn't expecting it, however, when she ordered me off my own bed and pointed to the chair over in the corner. Pam had insisted I get that damn chair because it just 'fit so well in the space,' even though I saw no reason for it. I never sat in the damn thing and I found myself cursing its existence. Why the fuck did I _ever_ listen to Pam? Why?

Still, I did what I was told and moved Sookie's enormous purse to the floor beside the chest of drawers so it would be out of the way. I sat down in the chair and it actually wasn't so bad. It was pretty comfortable, come to think of it, but it wasn't where I wanted to be. Where I wanted to be was back on my bed with the pretty but pissed off blonde who I had no doubt was going to make me suffer for my sins.

"You want to see a tease, Eric? I'll show you a tease," Sookie knelt at the edge of my bed, her knees spread apart and her hands teasing the inside of her beautifully tan thighs. "I want you to sit there and watch me. Keep your hands on the arms of the chair and don't move until I tell you to."

I forced my face to remain expressionless, even though I wanted to throw a small tantrum. While I certainly didn't have a problem with watching her get herself off, I didn't really like the idea of not being able to pounce when it suited me. "Did you think I was just going to leave you hanging forever, Sookie?" I asked her.

"It doesn't really matter anymore," she shrugged as her hand moved between her legs. She moaned as her hips rolled. "God this feels so good."

Fuck. I hated this punishment already.

"I'm so fucking wet right now, Eric," her head fell back, exposing her neck and I watched the twitch of her muscles and veins. The hand that wasn't between her legs settled at her breast; pinching and rolling one nipple and then the other.

As if I didn't hate myself enough already, my cock was ready to secede from the rest of me because it clearly felt like it wasn't the cause of all this. It'd been ready to strike, while my stupid brain decided it was time to play games. I did learn, however, that if I ever wanted to try the orgasm denial thing again, she'd have to be tied up first. Although she'd probably kill me when I let her loose.

Watching Sookie meant my eyes didn't know where to go first, since there was a plethora of fun things to look at. Should I keep staring at her neck? Maybe I should look at her mouth and the way her lips were parted while she panted and took deep breaths. Of course her breasts looked amazing, so round and full as they were naturally, and then there was all the heaving they were doing. I could watch her fingers on her nipples and the way she knew just how to tweak them to make them incredibly hard. There was the slight tremble of her stomach the closer she got to cumming. I could stare at the curve of her hips and the way they flexed and rolled while her hand moved between her legs.

And then, of course, there was that hand between her legs. I couldn't see exactly what she was doing, but whatever it was, she was certainly enjoying it. I could see the slight movement of her fingers over her clit for a few seconds before her hand moved down a little farther and I assumed those fingers were inside her. She grunted each time they dipped into that hot, tight space my cock was so pissed off at me for teasing.

_I could be in there right now, you jerk_, I heard a voice in my head say. I was trapped in one of those heaven/hell paradox moments. Watching her was a thing of beauty but not being able to touch her was fucking torture. How did she know it would drive me nuts? Lucky guess, or had I given myself away somehow?

"Oh, fuck, Eric, this…ugh…so close…" she moaned, her hips bucking against her small hand and when she cried out with her climax, she also slumped to the side a little with her thighs clenching tightly around her hand. "Fuck, that felt good."

Her smile was lazy, her eyes were closed and she looked sated. Fuck me. I fucking hated my life right then. But then she stretched out on the bed and her hand started moving again. I did a double take, not sure if I was actually seeing things properly. The way her body shook with an aftershock from her first orgasm left me with no doubt she was going for seconds. Motherfucker.

Sookie became decidedly more vocal during the second round she had previously been denied by a dumbass yours truly. I listened while she described the things she was thinking about while she touched herself, which meant she basically laid out a fantasy of hers for me. She rolled onto her back and let one of her legs hang off the bed so her toes grazed the bed frame while the other was still bent at the knee. She kept her head turned in my direction and mostly looked right into my eyes while she talked of all the things she could imagine me doing to her.

Never again would I be stupid enough to deny her. Ever.

She came a second time when she talked about how good it felt when I went down on her and it was killing me to stay there in my seat. Watching her body arch and tremble when I knew she could be doing those things underneath me was bordering on painful and my cock _definitely_ hated me. She continued to touch herself all through her second orgasm and was starting to build toward her third when she changed positions yet again.

She turned her back to me once she was on her knees again, and then she lowered her face to the mattress, giving me a view of _exactly_ what her fingers were doing. She was moaning my name with each plunge of her very slick fingers and it was driving me crazier with each thrust. She turned her head so she could see me over her shoulder and wiggled her hips a little. Evil.

"Do you want to get out of that chair, Eric?" she purred and then moaned when her fingers moved to her clit.

"Fuck yes," I growled but didn't move.

"What do you want to do to me?" she asked breathlessly.

It was quite a list. I was so fired up I was sure she wouldn't be leaving that bed for hours, although I was sure I could keep her there for days and not be satisfied. She was addictive and I was pretty sure she knew it. I talked slowly, telling her all the things I wanted to do to her and closely watched her reactions to see what got the biggest rise out of her.

I could tell she was close to her third orgasm when she pushed herself up just a little and said, "I want you inside me when I cum. You can get up now."

I didn't have to be told twice. I think I might have been out of the chair before she even had the whole sentence out. I somehow had the wherewithal to remember the birth control talk we'd had the night before and pulled a condom from the nightstand. I had that sucker on in record time and growled when I realized Sookie had moved herself into position at the edge of the bed so all I had to do was grab her hips and push.

I didn't waste any time teasing her either. Enough was enough as far as that was concerned. We'd each had more than our fair share of teasing and I pushed into her with one long, fluid stroke. She moaned loudly and her hand grabbed at the comforter that was still askew from the night before since neither of us had bothered to make the bed.

After a moment, I grabbed onto her hips and started to thrust, slowly, at first, to make sure I didn't hurt her. She was so hot and wet it was hard to hold back but she was also tight enough that I didn't want her to be in pain because I was an overeager bastard. What had once been hell had completely flipped and was now the very definition of heaven.

"Fuck, you're so wet, lover," I growled, listening to the sounds each thrust of my hips made as I buried myself inside her.

"Harder," was her only response and I was more than happy to oblige.

When I pulled out of her a short time later, she whimpered and quickly rolled onto her back. I climbed onto the bed and kissed her deeply until we had to break the kiss to breathe. I entered her again, swiveling my hips a little with each thrust into her and her nails dug into my back.

"Oh fuck, don't stop," she moaned and bit my ear gently.

We rolled shortly after that and while her hands braced on my chest at first, they ultimately sought out mine. Our palms met and our fingers locked. She leaned forward, forcing my hands up on either side of my head, pinning me to the bed. With her breasts right in front of my face I stretched forward to lick, suck on and tease them. Her hips rolled as she rode me and when I felt the fluttering of her muscles around my cock, I let go of her hands.

I looked down to watch her moving up and down on top of me and I knew I wasn't going to last much longer. My hands settled on her hips once again to hold her up just a little so I could thrust up into her. Her head rolled back but only until I said, "Look at me, Sookie."

Her eyes found mine and even when my thumb moved to rub circles over her clit, our eyes stayed locked on one another's. She chanted my name quietly, but the closer she got to cumming, the louder she became. My thrusts got harder and faster and she just begged for more. Her hand moved behind her and then I felt a gentle squeeze on my balls and that was it. I lost it.

"Fuck, Sookie!" I grunted and before I could stop it, I came. Hard. Maybe harder than I ever had in my life. We're talking stars in my eyes, fireworks exploding overhead and maybe even world peace breaking out for just those few seconds. For all I cared, and atom bomb could have gone off just then.

Sookie followed me over that wonderfully cliff into a freefall of pleasure and her body slumped against mine. She giggled deliriously while her entire body shook. "I have no muscles," she said between giggles.

"That's good. I wasn't planning on letting you get up anytime soon anyway," I pulled her face to mine and kissed her.

**SPOV**

Tired as I was after all the orgasms, it was Eric who fell asleep first. I lay there beside him for a while, just watching the rise and fall of his chest and started thinking about 'us,' even though we had agreed we weren't an 'us' yet. What the fuck was I waiting for anyway? Was I waiting for some big sign to flash down on me from heaven that I had been wasting all this time like a silly teenage girl?

Besides, letting Eric call me his girlfriend didn't mean I stopped being Sookie. I'd made that mistake with the ex; I wasn't going to make it again. I knew what to look for now when a relationship was going shitty. I also knew I'd never felt so passionately about the ex, or any other guy I dated, as I did about Eric. When I wasn't around him, I wanted to be. When I was with him, I wanted time to stop. It wasn't just that the sex was amazing—although that was certainly a factor in the equation.

I felt like I could be myself around him, whether that meant being a smart ass, a brat, a nurturer, a nerd…whatever I felt like being in any given moment, Eric would be on board with it. Even better, he seemed curious about all the different facets of my personality. He was certainly fascinated by the idea that I had never been much of a conformist and I did what I wanted to do, regardless of what anyone else thought.

I couldn't believe there was a part of me that ever wanted to just forget he existed. I'd tried, during those six months that followed the night we met. I told myself it was just sex and nothing more. But then when I dreamed of him, it wasn't usually sex that I dreamed of. I dreamed of that laugh of his, the one that probably was more like his mother's than I would ever know firsthand. I tried to figure out what he did for a living or where he might live, never realizing he was practically my neighbor the whole time.

But then Eric seemed okay with staying casual and since I didn't want to push for more than what he was willing to offer just yet, I figured it was best to keep it to myself for the time being. When the time was right to bring it up, I would know. I rested my head on his chest and wasn't the least bit surprised when his arm wrapped around me to hold me close to him. My eyes closed and I drifted off to sleep.

When I woke sometime later it was because I could hear silverware clinging nearby. My eyes opened to see Eric carrying a tray with our bowls from breakfast on it, along with two steaming mugs of coffee. He set the tray down on at the foot of the bed before climbing up next to me. He leaned over and kissed me softly before pulling back and tucking some of my hair behind my ear.

"I was starving, so I figured you would be too," he smiled at me.

"Yes, I definitely require food," I smiled in return and gladly accepted the bowl he handed me.

"This is delicious," he told me after taking a bite.

"How did your mom make it?" I asked him.

"Pretty much the same way as you but she always put just a little pinch of Cayenne in the gravy because I like spicier foods," Eric explained.

"Cayenne, huh?" I smirked and made a mental note of it. "So if I made it that way sometime, would that upset you?"

"Are you kidding?" Eric looked over his shoulder at me. "Sookie, I wouldn't think you were trying to replace her or something."

I smiled with a hint of embarrassment. "Well, I wasn't thinking that, exactly. I just…well, I didn't know if you would think it was weird."

"No, I wouldn't think it's weird. And frankly, I think if she knew the woman I was seeing was doing a little something extra to make me happy, she would be honored by it."

My smile grew and I felt relieved that he knew what I meant. It also didn't escape my notice that he didn't call me his girlfriend. Maybe more important than that, I noticed the tiny pang of disappointment over it. I started to mentally kick my ass for being a chicken and not just speaking up. I should have just told him I changed my mind about the whole thing; that I wanted more than just some casual fling sort of situation.

"If it makes you feel any better, she would be hounding you for your biscuit recipe. These are amazing," Eric hefted another forkful of food into his mouth.

"I'm sure Gran would have been happy to teach her," I took a sip of my coffee.

We seemed to be out of things to say after that and kept quiet while we ate. Eric finished before me but that wasn't surprising since I was a notoriously slow eater and always had been. Eric went to the kitchen for seconds while I was still only about halfway through my first helping and I was already getting full.

"So what do you have planned for the rest of the day?" Eric asked me after climbing back into bed with me.

"I have to stop by the store at some point. I have to post the new schedule," I said with a shrug. I didn't really want to get out of his bed. Not only was it comfortable, I liked being with him.

"You can't get someone else to do that?" he asked with a wink.

I smiled at him and said, "I wish I could but it's on my password protected computer. Even the other owners down have access to it. But if it makes you feel better, I would rather stay here and play hooky with you all day."

"It's okay. I have to go to work myself later. We've got a live show tonight," Eric sighed and took another big bite.

I leaned over and set my bowl down on the tray at the end of the bed. No way was I going to eat anymore, delicious as it was. Eric told me about the band that was playing and I was a little sorry I wouldn't be there to see them play. It would definitely beat spending my night going over the accounting stuff at work but it needed to be done.

"If you finish early, or late, for that matter, you could always come by. Even if we're at capacity, I can bring you upstairs," he told me.

"Upstairs to your little play room?" I teased and he grinned at me.

"Come on, Sookie, wasn't there just a little part of you that was turned on by the idea of getting caught?"

I shrugged and said, "Maybe a little." My expression totally gave me away and Eric laughed.

"Naughty girl," he said in a teasing tone.

"And it didn't get you off just a little?" I asked and his smile grew.

"Of course it did," he admitted.

"Is that something you're into?"

"Sex in public?" he asked and I nodded. "Not usually, but I guess it's like you said. When I'm around you all the regular rules go right out the window."

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><p><strong>Okay, so the next chapter will be the last regular and then I'll have an epilogue. I haven't finished the next chapter yet so you probably won't get it until late tomorrow or maybe sometime Saturday. But we're just about at the end of the line with these two. Hope you enjoyed a peek at dom!Sookie. Eric won't admit it, but he did. Thanks for reading!<strong>


	16. Becoming An Us

**Right, so, this took longer to write than expected. I got hung up on the lemon for this chapter, which was strike one. Strike two was getting into rereading BDB. Rhage is the man, and I spent 3 days reading Lover Eternal for a second time. Strike 3 was the insanity that was this weekend. I babysat Saturday night and then Sunday I ended up having a ton of people over, including baby sister to watch True Blood. How freakin' cute was Eric? *sigh* Then I finally got to do a little writing on this last night after having a migraine for most of the day. So, here we are with the final regular chapter of this story.**

**The tail end is soooo NOT SAFE FOR WORK so I don't want any comments from anyone telling me they got hauled into their boss's office for reading porn on the job, feel me? You know who you are...**

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><p><strong>SPOV<strong>

The next few weeks went by rather quickly, or so it seemed. I went about my usual routine, although there was the new addition of Eric. I saw him every chance I got and he always made it worth my while for me to squeeze him into my day. Sometimes it was as simple as meeting for lunch or grabbing a cup of coffee together. We went to a movie one night but only saw part of it since we ended up making out like a couple of teenagers in the back row until we couldn't take anymore and had to leave the theater.

I slept at his apartment once or twice and he spent the night at my place once. We quickly realized, however, that his place was better suited for sleepovers since his bed was definitely bigger than mine. Not to mention, we didn't have to worry about Amelia's big ears listening in every chance she got. And Amelia was definitely tooting her own horn over setting Eric and me up.

Pam, on the other hand, was starting to regret her decision after receiving the first season of _Toddlers and Tiaras_. It just so happened I was sitting in Eric's office one afternoon when I brought him lunch that the DVDs were delivered. My name was nowhere on the box so she had no idea who had sent them to her. All she knew was that the purchase had been made on Amazon.

"What the fuck is this?" she asked when she lifted the DVDs from the box they'd been shipped in.

"Looks like DVDs, Pam," Eric said with a shrug and I learned just how good an actor he could be when he wanted to.

"Thank you, Professor Obvious," Pam rolled her eyes.

"Let me see?" I held out my hand and Pam handed over the DVDs. "Are you into beauty pageants or something?" I asked her innocently and Eric nearly choked on the sandwich he was eating.

Pam narrowed her eyes and looked back and forth between Eric and me. "You told her, didn't you?"

"Told me what?" I handed the DVDs back to Pam.

"You asshole," Pam spat and threw the DVDs back in the Amazon box. "This isn't over. I'll get you both!"

Pam continued to mutter threats as she stomped out of the office. Later that day I went online and ordered her a tiara and sash. I wasn't there when she received them but the glares I got from her every time I turned up at Shakespeare's Sister told me I better watch my back. I welcomed whatever nonsense Pam might try to come up with.

I was sitting at my desk at the store doing payroll on a Wednesday afternoon when Maria Starr stuck her head in my office. I didn't realize I was quietly singing along with the music coming from my iPod dock until I had to stop to say hello to her. She had this goofy grin on her face and without waiting for me to ask, she plopped down on the chair up against the opposite wall.

"You're awfully happy lately," Maria folded her legs Indian style, still grinning at me.

"Regular orgasms'll do that to you," I smiled in return.

"So when are you going to bring him around here so we can inspect him and give him the warning?"

"Uh, there won't be any warnings since we're not technically a couple," I told her.

Maria laughed, her head falling back and clutching her sides after a few seconds. "Sweetie, sometimes you're just too cute."

"What?" I asked, clearly not getting what was so funny.

When she calmed her tits a little she said, "Don't take this the wrong way, Sookie, but you're not usually so…warm 'n fuzzy, I guess is the way I'd put it. You don't walk around humming a happy tune and I've never seen you smile so much over nothing. So you can blame the orgasms if you want, but I'm pretty sure it's the guy giving 'em to you you're so smitten over."

Was I smitten? I knew I liked Eric but I wasn't sure I'd say I was _smitten_ over him. "What am I, fifteen? I'm too old for smitten," I said, clearly in denial about my feelings.

"Oh please," Maria rolled her eyes. "First of all, we're _never_ too old to be smitten. Second of all, I think it's sweet that you are considering how you two met. Third, who gives a fuck what anyone else thinks and before you argue with me, I know you're considering that. The only thing that matters is how you feel, Sookie. So if you're crazy about him, tell him that before he moves on to someone else."

I sighed and put on a pout for all of five seconds. I was singing along to Eric Carmen, for fuck's sake! What the hell? I didn't do that sort of stuff, and yet, that was _exactly_ what I was doing. I had one of those light bulb moments you see the female lead in romantic comedies have all the time whenever she realizes the man she's really in love with is her best friend, and not the guy she's engaged to. God, I was such a cliche.

"I am crazy about him," I admitted and Maria gave me an 'I told you so' grin that made me want to smack her and thank her at the same time.

"Does he know that?"

"No," I sighed again. "We agreed that we like seeing each other and even that we like each other. We have a lot in common and even though the sex is amazing, out of this world crazy good, I'm happy just hanging out and talking to him. The other night we met for a quick dinner at a diner across from Shakespeare's Sister, and the best part was when he hugged me hello and goodbye."

She gushed over the cuteness of my admission. "See?"

"I know, I know."

"So why haven't you told him how you feel?"

"I don't know. I guess I don't want to rock the boat. Things are going so well and we agreed that we would talk about things if our feelings changed but I guess I'm just worried that if I say something, he's going to tell me he wants things to stay the way they are. If it's not broke, don't fix it."

"Have you been seeing anyone else since you started with Eric?' Maria asked.

"No, I haven't. There hasn't been time, first of all, but mostly, I'd feel weird about it. I have permission to do that but I've never really been the type to play the field. I'm a one man at a time kind of girl."

"So let me get this straight…" Maria cleared her throat. "You're not dating anyone else. You're not fucking anyone else. You and Eric have a ton of stuff in common, you love spending time with him and the sex is insanely good. Do I have all that right?"

"That's pretty accurate."

"Sounds to me like you're already in a relationship and you're too chicken to call it what it is," Maria said with a shrug. "Face it, sweetie, you're his girlfriend and you need to tell him you want him to see you that way before he finds someone who _will_ tell him that."

I didn't want to admit it, but I knew she was right. Dammit.

**EPOV**

Thursday night had become date night for Sookie and me. It wasn't really anything official but since it was one of my two nights off, I made it a point to see her. A little over a month had passed since that blind date Pam and Amelia had set us up on and things were going well. I hadn't gone out with anyone other than Sookie since that night. Hell, I barely looked at other women anymore.

After being with her, there was just no comparison. All women were divided into two categories: Sookie, and everyone else. I had learned so much about her in the last month. It seemed I had found the complete package, if I was completely honest with myself. There were times when we saw each other and it was like something came over me and I couldn't keep my hands off her. Other times I was content to just sit back and hear whatever it was she had to say, whether she was telling me about her day or reliving a story from her childhood.

Whatever we were up to, I was never bored with her. Even in the quiet moments when we were just laying in bed together, or sitting quietly on either of our couches watching the news, I liked being with her. I liked hearing her opinions on things and I didn't mind that she asked me questions rather frequently. The only thing that made me a little bit nervous was how easily it all seemed to be coming together.

What goes up must come down and I figured that out while I was waiting for her at my apartment on a Thursday afternoon. We didn't really have anything planned beyond her coming over. With the weather being so nice outside, I thought we could take advantage of it and cook out on the grill I'd recently bought and put out on the balcony. Maybe we'd watch a movie after dinner or end up going for a walk to the ice cream place a few blocks over. I liked not having a plan.

I couldn't help but notice the little things that had changed around my apartment in the last few weeks since Sookie had become a frequent visitor. For starters, there was always food in my fridge. Before, I'd shopped as needed, instead of for several days at a time. Since I never knew when she might drop in, or end up sleeping over, I wanted to make sure I was stocked up so we didn't have to leave. The number of times I ate out during the week had dropped pretty significantly due to the number of home cooked meals I was eating. On more than on occasion, Sookie had brought me dinner or lunch at the bar and we'd eaten together in my office.

The house was a little cleaner than it used to be, once again, because I didn't know when she's just pop in for a visit, or to spend the night. She had a toothbrush in my bathroom along with a hair dryer that was tucked away in one of the vanity drawers. I'd even cleared out the drawer of the nightstand on what I'd come to think of as her side of the bed. I didn't look in there when she wasn't around but I knew she'd put lotion and a spare pair of glasses in there. I think there might have been a book in there as well, but I couldn't be sure.

Even though it was my place, it still felt wrong to invade her privacy like that, although I was sure she wouldn't have cared if I peeked. If there was one thing I knew about Sookie, it was that she wasn't very shy about most things. As of her last sleepover the previous Thursday, she'd become comfortable enough to walk around my apartment naked. It was a welcome sight, if there ever was one.

I was sitting on the couch, reading a book Sookie had recommended when my buzzer rang signifying her arrival. I marked my page and went to let her in. I left the door cracked open for her and returned to the couch. I heard the sound of her footsteps entering the apartment and then the click of the deadbolt sliding into place after she closed the door. She walked into the living room with a rather grim look on her face, dressed in a pair of tight jeans, a black t-shirt with the Batman emblem on it and a hoodie zipped half way. Her hair was pulled back in a knot and as always, her glasses were perched in the same place on her nose.

"Hey," I smiled up at her as she walked toward me almost reluctantly. "How was your day?"

"We have to talk," she said but came no closer.

The nervousness on her face became dread and I felt my heart leap up into my throat. Those were four words no man ever wanted to hear from the woman he was seeing and they were especially unwelcome when she looked like she was walking to the gallows. Had she met someone else? Were things not working out like I thought? Maybe I'd been reading signals all wrong.

"Okay," I said nervously and patted the couch but she shook her head and kept standing.

"No, I have to do this standing because if I sit next to you I'm going to forget everything I want to say and I'll end up kissing you instead and if I kiss you, I'm going to get naked and if I get naked, we'll end up fucking and it'll just be ruined so I need to stay right here where it's safe." Sookie reached up to play with her hair, then cursed silently when she realized she'd put her hair up.

"Sookie, what's wrong?" I asked her gently.

"We said if something changed, we would talk about it, right?" she nibbled on her thumb. This wasn't the Sookie I was used to. Usually she had all this confidence in herself. I wasn't prepared for nail biting, unsure Sookie and it made me a little paranoid.

"Yes, we did," I agreed with her since it was the truth.

"I've been doing a lot of thinking and I got to talking to Maria yesterday. She stopped by my office while I was doing payroll and she was sort of teasing me because I was singing along with Eric Carmen and-"

"Eric Carmen?" I couldn't resist the smile that crept up on me. "You mean the guy that sang 'Hungry Eyes'?"

"Well, yes, but I was singing 'Make Me Lose Control,' if that makes any difference. But that's not even the point, Eric. The point is, I was sitting in my office, singing some stupid eighties power ballad and I was thinking about you while I was singing it and Maria knew it. I was smiling at my computer screen like I just had a stroke and she knew…she could see right through me. So if she can see it, then why can't I see it? Why did it take me so long to figure it out?" She asked somewhat frantically.

"Sookie, sweetheart, you've lost me," I got up but she took a step backward.

"I thought I was okay in the free fall. I thought I could do this casual thing and just be okay with that because it seemed like it was what you wanted and I thought I wanted that, too. I'm not blaming you," she sighed and closed her eyes while she took a deep breath. "It's not enough for me, Eric. I thought it could be, but it's just not. I think about you all the time and when I'm not with you want to be…I'm crazy about you. There, I said it."

I sat down on the couch again, completely broadsided by her admission. I wasn't disappointed. In fact, I was very much the opposite of that. I'd had a lot of time to think about my feelings for her and they had only been growing since the night of our blind date. Everything I knew about her so far, I liked. She could make me laugh, think, and open up about my mother. She'd gotten under my skin in so many ways and no matter how much time we spent together or how close we were, it was never enough.

"Say something please before I explode or something," Sookie pleaded and I was on my feet again.

"I'm crazy about you, too," I said when I reached her. My hands settled on her face and I tilted her head up so she had to look me in the eye. "I mean it, Sookie."

"I don't want to see anyone else. Not that I have, but I don't even want the option anymore. I just want you," her eyes searched mine while she waited for me to give her my take on things.

Normally, I might have teased her a little bit but I knew it wasn't the right time for that. She needed to hear the whole truth about the way I felt, so I laid it all out there for her. I told her how important she had become in such a short period of time and how my days always sucked if I didn't see her face. Just hearing her voice made me feel better, but it was seeing her that really put me at ease. And then when she touched me, the world felt right. Even if it was something as simple as holding hands on a crowded street, or my hand on the small of her back while we watched from the side of the stage as local talent was performing in front of us, I felt a connection to her I'd never felt with anyone else.

"I feel like you know me in ways that not even Pam does and for a very long time, she was the only person who really knew me. I can tell you anything, Sookie. Even if I know you're not going to like what I have to say, I know I can say it and it's going to be okay because you're you and I'm me. For whatever reason, we just work. We fit together in the most perfect ways," I reached for her hand and her fingers laced with mine while tears welled in her eyes.

But I didn't stop there. I leaned in and kissed her, her bottom lip fitting perfectly between mine. The pout and fullness of it nearly had me convinced her lips had been made with mine in mind. I could kiss her for hours (and I had) and not get bored with it. She was amazing and I had no doubt we would be amazing together.

"I don't want to see anyone else either. I want you, and just you. I want us," I told her and she smiled at me, a single tear working its way down the side of her face. She nodded resolutely and then lurched forward to kiss me again.

Her arms wrapped around my neck, holding me close to her and it's a good thing she did because I could feel myself getting lost in that kiss. It was a promise, I know that much, but there was more. There was such intensity and yet, it wasn't the usual hunger or need I had come to associate with kissing Sookie. There was something calmer about it, almost as if we knew we didn't need to rush anymore.

Blindly, I eased the elastic from her hair and dropped the band on the floor so my hands could get lost in the still damp waves that cascaded down her back. When I lifted her off the floor her legs wrapped around my waist. Any other time I probably would have pinned her against the wall or maybe set her on the dining room table, but not that day. Instead I headed for my bedroom with her wrapped around me, still kissing her like she was the very oxygen I needed.

I tried to set Sookie down on my bed but she wouldn't let go. Instead, she pulled me down with her, keeping her arms and legs wrapped around me. My t-shirt was the first casualty of our make out session but her hoodie soon followed. She pulled her glasses off and set them on the bedside table while I reached for the hem of her t-shirt. I barely got the material up over her head before she was pulling my face back to hers. She covered my face in tiny kisses and the closest she got to my lips was the corners of my mouth.

Our eyes met and she smiled at me, her thumbs brushing against my jaw. I tackled her suddenly and went for her neck, marking her with wet, sloppy kisses that made her giggle squeal. Well, until my lips moved down to her chest and my fingers started to tug the straps of her bra off her shoulders. Her fingers trailed over mine for a moment before moving my hands to the front clasp of the bra she was wearing. I went back to kissing her neck while battling with the clasp.

"Having some trouble there?" Sookie asked with a smile of amusement.

"I've never been cockblocked by lingerie before," I admitted and then had the brilliant idea to rip it, so that's what I did.

Sookie gasped and said, "I liked that bra!"

"I like it better this way," I smirked at her as the lace fell to the side, leaving her breasts bare for me.

"Predictable," Sookie rolled her eyes but gasped again when I leaned down and licked one of the perfectly round globes of flesh I'd just unveiled.

"Don't pretend you don't enjoy the spoils," I stretched up and kissed her harder than before.

Sookie writhed underneath me, her hips rising up off the bed and rubbing against me before she gently broke off the kiss. "I'm not really in the mood for teasing, boyfriend."

The smile on her lips was faint, but it grew when I smiled back at her. Boyfriend…I liked that word coming off her lips.

**SPOV**

Apparently, being called 'boyfriend' agreed with Eric because his kisses and ministrations became a bit more fevered and hungry than they had been. We were wrestling each other out of our clothes but it was while I was wiggling out of my jeans that he suddenly stopped moving. There was a clarity in his eyes that hadn't been there a moment before and I started to worry something was wrong.

"What? What is it?" I asked breathlessly.

"I want to take this slow," he said and inched my jeans off.

"It's a little late for that, don't you think? I smirked at him.

"It's never too late. You're proof of that," he dropped my jeans on the floor and then moved to cover him again with his big body. The way he looked at me made my heart flutter. "For a change, I want to make love to my girlfriend."

The fluttering stopped only because I'm pretty sure my heart stopped for a second. He could be so sweet to me. Really, what the hell was I thinking for all that time? I wasn't crazy enough to think he was perfect, but he was perfect for me. That was enough.

So we started again, taking it down a few notches and by the time he was peeling off my panties, I knew I was going to fall apart before he was finished with me. His breath was warm against my thighs and the first pass of his tongue against my very wet sex made me shiver. I looked down and met his eyes, watching him watch me as his tongue moved again. He knew my body so well by that point, the product of a great many spectacular orgasms. I'd lost count of them all.

He held my hips down when they started to lift off the bed and the sound that escaped me when his fingers slid inside me was something I'd never heard before. I heard him mutter something but I couldn't tell what it was before his tongue started to move a little faster against my clit and my entire body short circuited. Jesus, he was amazing. My hands sank into his hair, gripping it tightly while his tongue moved relentlessly.

I was straddling that line between amazing and almost painful, it felt so good. When his fingers brushed against that spot inside me, I completely lost it and shouted his name when the first wave of my orgasm crashed down on me. I couldn't breathe for a few seconds after that and then I was panting and gasping for air. I was sucking it in any way I could but I hadn't come close to catching my breath by the time his mouth fitted itself on mine. I could taste myself on him and I groaned when I felt his fingers still inside me, stroking against that same magical spot.

"Oh God," I whimpered, trembling underneath him.

His eyes met mine and he smiled at me. "You're so beautiful when you cum, lover."

I felt myself flush a little and my thighs tried to squeeze together for more friction. "I want you inside me," I pulled his lips back to mine.

He kissed me deeply, his tongue working a similar rhythm in my mouth to the one his fingers were working further south. Eric was sucking gently on my neck, no doubt marking me, when my second orgasm hit just as hard as the first. I was a quivering, boneless mess and he wasn't done yet. I could hardly move as he gently pulled his fingers out of me and lifted them to his lips to lick them clean. At the last second, he used them to trace my lips instead, and then leaned down to kiss me.

"Eric, please," I whispered when he pulled back, reaching down between us to stroke his very hard cock. I wanted him inside me so badly by that point. He kissed me softly then leaned toward his nightstand. "Don't."

"Don't what?" he lifted an eyebrow at me.

"We said when it was just us we wouldn't use them anymore. I want to feel you. All of you," I lifted my hips, nudging my wet center against his cock.

He growled and then kissed me hard again. We were an us. I liked the way it sounded just as much as he did. It was nice to know we were on the same page, our feelings flowing in the same direction. There was no more doubt about whether or not this was the real thing or just an orgasm induced fluke. I wasn't in love with him yet, but I knew that's where I was headed and for the first time in my life, I looked forward to falling because I knew he would be holding my hand, falling right beside me.

My hand started to pump him a little while we kissed until I finally placed him right at my entrance. Our eyes met again and he swept some of my hair away from my sweaty forehead. He kissed the tip of my nose and then slowly pushed inside me. My legs bent and pulled up higher so my knees were practically squeezing his ribs. My hands found their way around his back and down to his gorgeous ass. I pulled him deeper inside me and stretched forward to kiss him again.

"So tight," he muttered. "You were made for me, Sookie." His words were whispered against my lips.

I bit his bottom lip gently and then sucked on it for a few seconds before his hips pulled back slowly, drawing out the stroke. My heart was pounding in my chest and by the time he was buried inside me again, I was back to having trouble breathing. Looking into his eyes was almost too much for me. They were so intense and clearly conveyed everything he was feeling. I didn't realize I'd started crying until his lips went after each of my tears, kissing them away softly.

"Why are you crying?" he whispered in my ear, his hips moving in a slow, steady rhythm.

I couldn't find the words. I wanted to. I wanted to explain that it wasn't because he hurt me, or because I was disappointed, but I just didn't know what the words were to properly express it all. So instead, I kissed him because I figured that would tell him what he needed to know. We rolled a short time later and thank God his hands found mine. I braced my palms against his, rising and falling slowly, rolling my hips once in a while because the sensation of it felt amazing.

My toes started to tingle and as the feeling worked its way up my legs, I started to move faster and faster. Our eyes locked again and when he sat up, my legs circled around his waist. We rocked together with his arms wrapped around me. One was around my waist and the other around my shoulder so his hand was cradling the back of my head. I couldn't take my eyes off him and by the time the tingling hit my belly, I was ready to explode.

"Eric!" A muffled cry escaped me as I breathed against his neck, my fingers digging into his shoulder and back, raking him as I came.

I was coming down from my high when I felt him tense up and then have his own little explosion inside me. I moaned as he twitched, and feathered light kisses up his neck and over his jaw until I reached his mouth. His hands were in my hair, holding me close while he kissed me.

Without a doubt, he was the best I ever had and now, he was all mine.

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><p><strong>So there we have it! They finally pulled their heads out of their asses and made themselves official. Thank God! The next chapter will be the epilogue and that's it for this pair. Thanks for reading!<strong>


	17. Make Me Lose Control

**WARNING: This chapter is pretty much all porn and includes kink. It shouldn't come as a surprise considering the experimentation witnessed in previous chapters but if BDSM/spanking isn't your deal, then this chapter isn't for you. You already got the happy ending—no pun intended- so this is just bonus porn. This chapter is NOT SAFE FOR WORK so I strongly advise saving this for later when you're not in an office setting. Also, this is the final chapter. Enjoy!  
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><p><span>Epilogue: Make Me Lose Control<span>

**EPOV**

The last year with Sookie was quite a ride. I found that being her boyfriend wasn't all that different from being whatever it was she had considered me to be before we put ourselves on lockdown. We continued to get to know one another one conversation, one orgasm at a time. Her adventurous side didn't disappear with the status change in our relationship. Actually, if anything, it seemed knowing we were committed to each other brought out something even wilder in her.

I was a lucky bastard and I was determined to let her know I knew it every single day we were together. We weren't living together officially, but since our apartments were so close to each other's we were constantly going back and forth from one place to the other. We'd talked about living together but figured when the time was right, we'd know it. At the moment we each liked having our own space to retreat to and I didn't take it personally when she said she wanted to sleep in her own bed. Some nights—and there weren't many of them- I felt the same way.

Really, I couldn't complain. Shakespeare's Sister was doing better business than it had before, thanks in part to Sookie allowing us to put up promotional stuff in her shop. I knew her business was growing and they were considering opening a second location in Monroe. I was excited for her. We worked a lot of long hours and spent as much time together as we could. Thursday night was still date night so no matter what we had going on, that night was just about us.

More often than not we ended up making dinner together at one apartment or the other. We were so busy running around the rest of the time that a quiet night in was exactly the way we wanted to spend our date night. We'd eat dinner, watch a movie and spend the rest of the night in bed together—our favorite place to be.

On the one year anniversary of the night we met we went for drinks at the same hotel. By then we were beyond comfortable around each other. I recalled how hesitant Sookie had been that night. She'd tried her hardest to look confident but her eyes had given her away. Fucking a stranger was well outside her comfort zone but I understood why she'd done it. I just considered myself lucky that I was the guy she'd picked.

We had experimented a bit with different things, seeing what worked for us and what didn't. One thing was for sure, we never had boring sex. I figured the day we settled for missionary sex was the day we had serious problems in our relationship. The most important thing I had learned about Sookie, sexually speaking, was that loss of control was what got her off the fastest. She liked being held down, put into positions and being disciplined when she defied me.

I hadn't been too sure about it, at first, but when I saw what it did for her I came around to it. Knowing it made her happy made it easier for me to get into it. We'd talked about how rough was too rough and what our deal breakers were. Sookie trusted me completely and I trusted her right back. I knew what her boundaries were and she knew all she had to do was tell me to stop what I was doing and that would be the end of it.

I was at work one night when Sookie came by for a visit. She was dressed in a short, pleated skirt she'd bought expressly for the purpose of driving me crazy. She'd paired it with a tight tank top and combat boots so it was the right blend of innocent and grunge for a night at Shakespeare's Sister. She fit right in with the other women in the crowd.

For most of the night she'd been brattier than usual, demanding my attention when she knew I was busy and pouting when she didn't get her way. She was pushing my buttons and I was sure she knew she was doing it. She progressed from pouting to stomping around and after being warned several times, enough was enough. It clicked in my mind what she wanted and she was going to get it.

When she stuck her tongue out at me, I'd had it. I loved her, I really did, but this bratty behavior needed to stop. Now. If she could behave this way in public, then I would discipline her in public, which was what she wanted. My girl was nothing if not a minx.

"Enough!" I finally said after one complaint too many and grabbed her upper arm firmly but not too hard. "Come with me."

The regretful look in Sookie's eyes told me she knew what was going to happen. The look was part of the game, part of what made all of this a turn-on for both of us. "Eric, I'm sorry. I'll be good," she dropped her eyes.

"Too late," I said and marched her through the crowd to my office in the back.

"Eric, please," she pleaded but I ignored her.

Sookie knew the rules. She knew the consequences. If she acted like a bratty child, I treated her like one. All the way to my office, she pleaded for me to reconsider, to give her one more chance to behave like the good girl I knew she could be.

When we got to my office I said, "One more word and I'll leave the door open."

Sookie stopped talking and when I told her to go stand in the corner, she did as she was told. I pulled an old wooden chair I kept for occasions like these away from its spot by the wall. I considered how I wanted to go about this. I kept a paddle in my desk that Pam had given me as a gag gift two years before, but had only used it once. I didn't much care for it. I preferred the tried and true method of skin on skin.

I sat in the chair and watched Sookie. Her hands were clasped behind her back, her eyes straight ahead staring at the wall. She knew the drill. I hadn't punished her in over a month. She was getting better about behaving.

"Come here," I said roughly and she followed my command. I pulled her down over my lap, holding her hands against her back. "Do you know why I'm going to spank you?"

"I was a brat," she admitted.

"And what happens to brats?" I asked her as I ran my hand up the back of her leg.

"They get spanked," she answered with resignation as I tucked her skirt into the band of it.

"Yes they do," I said and brought my hand down on her right cheek. "Naughty brats get spanked."

I kept at it, spanking her over and over, alternating between cheeks, slightly raising the intensity with each swat that landed on her perfect ass. This was just the warm up phase.

"I'll be good, Eric. You don't have to do it anymore. I'll be good," Sookie said when I began to tug her panties down.

"Hush or I'll get the paddle, too," I warned her and she whimpered.

Sookie had earned her one and only paddling by snooping in my desk. Just five swats with it told her it was no joke and she never wanted to see it again. Frankly, I didn't want to get to a point where we had to start discussing safe words and all of that. Pain wasn't what got her off, and the idea of really hurting her did nothing for me. Sookie trusted me to stop before a safe word was necessary.

With her panties down to her knees, phase two of her punishment began. The spanking was faster and more intense. She began to fight my hold but relaxed as soon as my fingers moved to her pussy. She was fucking drenched. I slid two fingers inside her and pumped them in and out a few times before pulling them out and resuming her spanking.

When her ass was nice and red, I decided she'd had enough. By then she was breathing heavily and fighting tears. The tears weren't about the pain but about the embarrassment. Not just because she'd been spanked but because she'd forced me to do it by being a brat and breaking our rules. I also knew from previous experience that she was probably very close to an orgasm and I'd stopped short of letting her have it.

"It's all over now," I pulled her up and held her until she calmed down. "You did very well, lover. I'm proud of you."

She smiled at me and knowing the punishment was over, she put her hand on my cock. I was beyond fucking hard. The best part of all this was always phase three because it was the culmination of the little game we were playing with one another.

She kissed me softly, stroking me over my jeans, and asked, "Will you fuck me now? I really, really need to cum."

I couldn't agree more. I shifted her in my lap, glad her panties were still around her knees. She sat with her back against my chest, rubbing her very warm ass against my crotch. My hand went under her skirt and my fingers went directly to her drenched center. I rubbed her clit for a few seconds before moving my fingers farther down to slide them inside her. She tilted her head to the side and I kissed the column of her neck while working my fingers in and out of her. Over and over I pumped them into her, my thumb rubbing against her clit.

"Eric, please…" she whimpered, her hips moving in time with the thrust of my fingers.

"Please what?" I whispered against her neck.

"Fuck me. I want your cock inside me," she moaned, reaching behind her to try and stroke me again.

I removed my fingers and she whimpered again. I helped her to her feet and then went to make sure the office door was locked. Pam had a tendency to walk in without knocking and as much as Sookie might get off on the idea of fucking in public, that didn't mean she wanted Pam to have a front row seat for it. While I was checking the door Sookie kicked her panties off and removed her other clothing as well, leaving her standing in front of my desk in nothing but her glasses and combat boots.

Fuck.

I often wondered if she had any idea how fucking gorgeous she was. I really didn't think she had a clue. She always looked good but I thought she looked sexiest first thing in the morning, especially after a night of fucking. Her hair was always a hot mess, she wasn't wearing makeup and if she was wearing any clothing at all, it was usually one of my shirts. If we were at my place, she'd put on a pair of my socks as well, since I didn't have carpet anywhere in my apartment. I loved the sleepy smiles and contented sighs that she offered before she was really awake.

I pulled off my own clothes piece by piece with Sookie watching. I moved closer to her and was surprised when she dropped down to her knees. Her eyes met mine and I watched the impish expression on her face as her tongue appeared and licked the underside of my cock from base to tip. I grunted in satisfaction and she did it again before letting her hand in on the job. Rather than letting her thumb collect the pre-cum on the head, she licked it away and moaned. Her tongue swirled around my head and then she sucked me into her hot little mouth.

I kept my eyes on hers, watching as she bobbed her head up and down. The hand that wasn't being used to jerk me off was between her legs, rubbing her clit. Watching Sookie get herself off was always fuckhot. Knowing that pleasuring me got her off made her talents even more enjoyable. It wasn't a whole lot of fun to get a blowjob from someone who didn't really want to do it. Either fucking commit to it or don't do it at all.

As much as I didn't want to stop her, I wanted to give Sookie what she wanted. I gently pulled her away and brought her up from her knees. I expected her to kiss me but instead she offered me her fingers. I growled at her and sucked them into my mouth. Fuck, she tasted good. Always so sweet and warm… mmmm…

"Taste good?" Sookie smiled at me and I released her fingers from my mouth with a pop.

"Delicious," I leaned in and kissed her so she could taste it, too.

She moaned and reached for my cock again but before she could get a rhythm going I broke the kiss and turned her around so she was bent over my desk. Her ass was still red from her spanking and I suspected she would be feeling it for at least a day or two. I could imagine her sitting uncomfortably behind her desk at work, the memory of what we were doing now running through her mind. She would come home from work with soaked panties and pull me into the bedroom to fuck her. I knew this because she'd done it before.

I slid my cock up and down her slit, gathering the moisture there before pushing inside her. She gasped when I filled her. I grabbed her hips and slowly pulled all the way out before pushing back in again, entering her over and over until she was backing up to try and meet me. I pushed her back against the desk and drove into her hard.

"Hold on tight, lover," I warned and began pounding into her.

Sookie grabbed onto whatever she could to hold onto while I drove into her over and over again. It didn't take long for her to cum since she was so close, and the tight squeezing of her pussy nearly pulled me down with her but I wasn't ready yet. Instead I pulled out of her and brought her over to the couch. I sat down and she straddled my lap, sitting down on my cock while I took one of her nipples in my mouth. I sucked, nibbled and tugged on it while Sookie moved on top of me.

My hands held her hips, guiding her up and down and the way she swiveled her hips on the down stroke made my eyes roll a little. She leaned back, bracing her hands on my thighs. The change in angles meant I would be rubbing up against the spot inside of her that made her scream, and when she came again, I went with her.

Sookie slumped against me, her head landing on my shoulder; her lips sucking lightly at my neck. We were both a mess, both figuratively and literally. After a few minutes of heavy breathing and calming down I reached over to the box of Kleenex I kept on the table beside the couch.

"I got it," Sookie took the tissues from me and started to clean herself up a little. When she climbed off my lap and fell on the couch she hissed. "My ass hurts," she pouted.

I smirked, flipped her over and kissed her bright red cheeks. "Better?"

She laughed quietly and then rolled onto her back again. "The leather actually feels good."

Of course it did; it was cold. Unfortunately I couldn't stay in my office with her forever. I had to get up, get dressed and back out on the floor. Sookie followed me up off the couch and got dressed when I did. We walked out of my office together, hand in hand, and went over to the bar. She winced when she sat on one of the bar stools and I went around back to get her a drink.

"So have I ever told you about the annual camping trip I go on with a group of my friends?" Sookie asked after I handed her what she called a Drunk Shirley Temple. It was the usual Shirley Temple but with a shot of vodka in it.

"No, you haven't," I smiled at her and walked around the bar to sit down next to her.

"Well, it's coming up Memorial Day weekend. I was wondering if you'd be able to take the weekend off and come with us this year," Sookie suggested and took a drink.

I thought about it for a minute and tried to remember what we had on the books. I knew we had a band scheduled for that weekend but Pam could handle it just fine on her own. If I took Memorial Day she'd get the fourth of July off. I could deal with that.

"I'll work something out with Pam," I promised her and she smiled at me.

"Ever gone camping before?" Sookie shifted uncomfortably on the stool.

"Not since I was about twelve," I recalled what a disastrous trip that had been. "It rained pretty much the whole time and there was a hole in the bottom of the tent."

"Oh no!" Sookie laughed and took another drink. "Well, I promise this time will be better. You're hanging with the pros now."

**SPOV**

On my way out of Shakespeare's Sister, I got one last smack on the ass and a promise from Eric he would be home as soon as possible. I had a key to his place just like he had a key to mine. I headed for his apartment since it was closer, and waved at the guy behind the desk in the lobby when I got there. I had a few changes of clothes hanging in his closet and while I rode up on the elevator I started to wonder if maybe it was time to revisit the idea of living together.

I hadn't slept alone in three weeks and the last time I did, I didn't sleep well. I let myself into Eric's apartment and headed for the bathroom. While the water warmed for my shower I got undressed and started the iPod playing in the living room. The speakers being wired around the apartment was a brilliant move on his part. That way I didn't have to crank up the volume to hear the music while I was in the bathroom. I knew the walls were thick but since it was after midnight I figured the neighbors probably didn't want to hear Florence & the Machine.

I checked my ass in the mirror and lightly ran my fingers over the cherry red splotches on my cheeks. I smiled at them and closed my eyes, remembering how it all made me feel. There was that initial moment of dread, wondering how far Eric would take it. I trusted him not to go too far but there was still that little voice in my head that wondered.

The whole thing caused a little controversy inside me. I got off on him taking control like he did back at the bar. It was sexy as all hell to me. But there was still that part of me that wondered _why_ I got off on it like I did. I did some research on it and while I had no desire to go as far as some people did with the intricate bondage, wearing collars and all that stuff, I didn't mind it when Eric called me out on being a brat.

By calling me out, he was reining me back in when I started to get out of control. It was hard to explain, which was part of the reason why I felt so conflicted sometimes. To people who didn't walk the same fine line I did, they didn't understand the difference between abuse and what we were doing. I didn't feel abused at all by what Eric did. I encouraged it. Hell, I knew for a fact it wouldn't be happening at all of I didn't bring it up. Eric had been reluctant to do it in the beginning, being one of those people who didn't quite grasp the differences but now that he understood what it was about, I knew he got as much out of it as I did.

There was satisfaction in the trust we shared with one another, and while it might seem that Eric was the boss and he was the one in control, that wasn't really the case at all. I called the shots. If I got uncomfortable with what he was doing, it all stopped without question. He loved me above all else and that was what mattered. If I told him I changed my mind and wanted to do away with all the kink in our relationship, I knew he wouldn't have a problem with that.

Maybe someday if I wasn't getting the same pleasure out of it that I was now, I might tell him I'd had enough. Until that day came, however, I was going to enjoy every moment of it that I could. I stepped into the shower and whimpered when the hot water hit my already very warm backside. I would be feeling the after effects of that spanking for at least two days, which was exactly what I'd wanted when I started pitching my little fit.

I wanted the reminder to carry with me of all the things he could do to my body to make me feel good. Maybe it was twisted, but it worked for me. I washed up and wrapped myself in a towel when I got out of the shower. I brushed my teeth, combed my hair and went to the kitchen to get a glass of water to take to bed with me. I didn't bother with a nightgown. More often than not I slept naked. Not only was sleeping naked fun but it was also a time saver for those morning romps before we forced ourselves out of bed to start our day.

I was curled on my side when Eric came home. I wasn't quite asleep yet and appreciated how quietly he moved around the apartment so as not to wake me up. When he slid into bed behind me, I turned over so we were face to face. His hand came up and brushed some of my damp hair back behind my ear before leaning in to kiss me softly.

"How was the rest of your night?" I asked him.

"Boring," he pulled me closer to him. "How about you?"

"Same," I shrugged as well as I could for the position I was in.

"How's your ass?" he smiled against my forehead and I felt his hand move down to touch the part in question.

"Sore," I smiled against his skin. "Thank you."

"I love you, Sookie," he whispered and lightly trailed his fingers over my heated skin.

"I love you too," I snuggled against him.

**oOoOo**

The next morning I woke with Eric's fingers between my legs and his lips trailing down my spine. I smiled against the mattress and stayed absolutely still while he kissed the sore spots on my backside. He shifted my legs a little so his fingers could slide inside me. I vaguely recalled a pretty racy dream in which Eric had dragged me into a dark alley while we were walking down the street together on a sunny afternoon. He pushed me up against the wall, moved my panties out the way and since it was a dream, I was magically ready for him to fuck me, which he did very thoroughly with his hand over my mouth to keep passersby from stopping to make sure I was okay.

"You're very wet for me, Sookie," he bit gently on my thigh.

"How'd you know I was awake?" I giggled. I hadn't even moved except to smile.

"Your breathing," he said and removed his fingers only to use his tongue in their place.

"Mmmm…" I moaned and opened my legs a little wider for him.

My mind reeled back to the night I told him I loved him. He'd tackled me onto his couch and went down on me for an hour. I came so many times that night I was sure I was going to pass out by the time we called it quits. I don't know where I found the energy to keep up with him sometimes but I did. He liked to say that I was the one who forced _him_ to keep up but I don't think that's the case at all. Then again, I didn't require the same sort of recovery time he did between rounds and he took advantage of that every chance he got.

"What did you dream of to make you so wet, lover?" he asked and used his fingers again.

I groaned when he stroked against my g-spot. My brain scrambled a little but I found the words to tell him about my dream. He growled his appreciation for my overactive subconscious.

"Sounds like there's something we need to try sometime," he said before biting me again gently.

It wouldn't be the first time we had sex in public, obviously, but we'd only done it once in a place where we were in danger of being caught. His office was technically a public place but not like the library was. Yes, we fucked in the library. I'd gone in there to check out some books about business expansion and whatnot for work since we were talking about possibly opening another store. I wanted to know just what I was getting myself into. I'd talked to several other business owners in the area who had experience with it to get their perspective on the dos and don'ts of expansion.

Eric, being the big perv he was sometimes, split off from me and found his way to books about tantric sex and the Kama Sutra. He found me where he'd left me and dragged me off to the section of books with large text. As far as we knew, we were the only people on the second floor of the library. After pointing out which positions he wanted to try, he got me up against the shelves and… well, let's just say we finished right before one of the librarians came back to shelve some books. She'd looked at us suspiciously but since there was no evidence we'd done anything other than browse for books, there was nothing for her to say.

"The library wasn't enough?" I asked and Eric hovered over my back.

"Never," he moved so he was straddling my right leg, his erection pressed against my opening. He grabbed a handful of my hair and I lifted up onto my elbows. "You know how much I love fucking this tight pussy of yours."

I moaned and looked over my shoulder at him, lifting my hips off the bed a little. He teased me with the head of his cock, rubbing against my clit until my hips started moving in rhythm with the teasing. He kissed me deeply and slid inside me slowly. I broke the kiss to suck air into my lungs.

"Ungh… you're so fucking big, baby," I moaned and grabbed the sheets.

He moved slowly, lazily thrusting in and out of me, taking his time to let the pleasure build. He kissed my shoulders, neck and back, tugging on my hair with one hand and teasing my nipple with the other. When he pulled out he turned me over and pushed my knees up against my chest. He plowed into me, bracing his wait on his hands.

"Fuck…" I moaned, my head rolling to the side. "You're so deep, Eric…"

And he was. Jesus Christ he was deep inside me. Fucking amazing. My legs were up over his shoulders and as much as I wanted to reach down and grab his ass, my arms just weren't long enough to do it with my legs up like they were. He continued to pound into me, taking me close to the edge and then backing down.

"You're such a tease," I pulled his face to mine and kissed him.

"You haven't asked me if you can cum yet," he tugged my bottom lip between his teeth.

Oh, so it was going to be one of _those_ mornings. The way Eric liked to play, we could be in bed all day long before he finally gave in and let me cum. If I wouldn't have been punished the night before I would just go ahead and cum anyway but I didn't think I could handle another spanking just then.

"What if I cum without asking?" I asked him.

"You know the penalty," he rubbed his public bone against my clit and I whimpered.

"Cheater," I said and then figured what was good for the goose was good for the gander and squeezed my pussy around him.

"Fuck!" he shouted and suddenly pulled out of me.

"Did I hurt you?" I asked suddenly worried maybe I had. I'd squeezed him like that before but he'd never shouted that way.

"You're going to wish you had," the look in his eyes was dangerous and if it was possible, it made me even wetter. "Get on your knees, Sookie."

I did as I was told and didn't fight him when he pulled me to the edge of the bed. I expected him to turn me around and fuck me from behind but instead he grabbed the back of my head and pulled it down toward his cock. I opened my mouth immediately and grabbed onto his hips while his cock slipped between my lips. I wasn't expecting him to fuck my mouth but he did. He didn't push too far since the sound of me gagging did nothing to turn him on. He did, however, reach over (God bless the height difference between us) and slide two of his fingers into my pussy.

I moaned around his cock, and released him briefly when he removed his fingers from my pussy only to gently push one into my ass. We'd experimented with anal a few times but it wasn't my favorite thing. I would get a craving, for lack of a better term, sometimes but that was usually the only time we did it. It had been a while since we'd had anal sex though.

"No fucking me in the ass," I told him in my serious voice.

"Don't worry, lover," he smiled down at me. "I'm just playing with you."

He better be or I was going to bite his balls.

When he got close to cumming he pulled away, leaving me panting and waiting to see what was next. Eric was famous for getting my lightheaded and off my balance before pouncing on me. I loved that about him. He pushed me onto my back and pulled me to the edge of the bed by the back of my knees. With my feet planted and my hips lifted off the mattress, my legs were spread open for him. He entered me again, holding my hips up so just my shoulders and head were on the bed.

He pounded into me fast and hard, leaning over to grab my breasts while he fucked me. If I thought he was deep before, this was nothing. The base of his cock was rubbing against my clit and just to make sure I was really going crazy, he started swiveling his hips a little with each thrust.

"Fuck, Eric, I'm going to cum," I warned him. I didn't care if he gave me permission.

"Not yet you aren't," he slowed down his thrusts just a little.

"Please," I whimpered, rolling my hips. "I need it."

I did. I really, really did.

He grabbed my hips again and resumed the pounding he was doing before. With my head tilted back like it was I only felt more lightheaded before. I could feel my orgasm starting in my toes. There was no shutting it off. He had pushed me too far.

"Cum with me, Sookie," he growled, his thumb brushing against my clit.

"Fuck! Eric!" I screamed and let go.

I came so hard I saw stars. My body shook as wave after wave of intense pleasure rolled through me. I felt Eric swell inside me and then cum just as hard as I did. He fell forward but caught himself on his hands before falling on top of me. My legs dropped and he slipped out of me. My heart felt like it was going to beat right out of my chest; it was going so fast and hard in my ribcage.

"You're so fucking beautiful when you cum," Eric whispered against my lips, his eyes a little starry and then he kissed me.

I wrapped my arms around his neck, pulling him down on top of me. It was a slightly awkward position for him but rolling over took care of that. With his feet on the floor I straddled his waist. He wrapped his arms around me and smoothed my hair against my back.

"I can't feel my legs," I moaned against his neck and he laughed underneath me.

"So I guess a shower is out of the question right now, huh?" he kissed my head.

"Only if you're going to hold me up," I smiled lazily against his skin.

"Then who's going to hold me up?" he joked. Clearly his brain was as mushy as mine was.

"How about we just stay here for a while? I like it here," I snuggled against him.

"Yeah, me, too," he squeezed me a little tighter against him.

A few minutes later, we were both asleep.

-FIN-

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><p><strong>So there we have it. Who would have thought with the way these two began that they would be together in a committed relationship more than a year later? This was a fun story to write for several reasons. This Sookie was different from the others I've written and I can appreciate the exploring these two did with their emotions, as well as the sexual stuff. I'm in no way an expert on BDSM relationships but I like toying with the idea a little. There's a right way to write those relationships and a wrong way to do it. Hopefully I did it the correct way. I'm sure Lubadub would have bitch slapped me by now if I was on the wrong track. The great Lemon Queen is a fantastical resource in this department. Thanks to everyone who took the time to review this story. I appreciate all of your kind words and criticism equally. If you're in need of fresh panties, there's a pile over there. *points to the left*<strong>


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